AI has emerged as a powerful tool for unlocking the secrets of the past, but there are concerns about its potential to change our understanding of history. This was made clear when three computer science students used AI technology to read and translate an ancient Roman scroll recovered from Herculaneum, near Pompeii, winning a major prize. The ancient papyrus scrolls, severely damaged during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79, have been described as resembling leftover logs in a campfire. It has been difficult to decipher these papyri without causing further damage due to their fragile state. However, AI is changing that, with deep learning techniques being applied to read the scrolls virtually.
AI isn’t just being used to read ancient scrolls, but also to perform tasks in archeology, such as classifying pottery fragments and locating shipwrecks in sonar images. Additionally, AI and robotics are being used to reconstruct ancient artwork in Pompeii. These examples illustrate the vast potential uses of AI in historical research, and also raise concerns about its potential to reshape human history and culture, possibly not for the better. The author and historian Yuval Noah Harari has warned that AI may lead to a fundamental change in human history and culture, potentially overridden existing consensus and affecting human views of the past and cultural identity.
Preserving the historical record is critical, as AI technology has the potential to manipulate and distort it. Microsoft’s Project Silica, which uses laser etched glass rated to last thousands of years as a storage medium, could potentially offer a solution to this problem. At the same time, concerns remain about the potential for AI to create false historical records via deepfakes, which could erode trust in our present reality and distort the historical record. Therefore, it is crucial to establish strict standards and regulations for AI-enabled content creation and dissemination in order to mitigate the impact of AI on history.
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