What happens when you put AI to work deciphering lost languages?

Researchers have used artificial intelligence systems to identify patterns in undeciphered texts and historical documents, with human experts required to verify and interpret the results. AI tools scan large datasets of known languages to find structural similarities with unknown scripts, but linguists must confirm whether the identified patterns represent actual meaning or coincidental matches. The approach has been applied to ancient writings including Linear A and other proto-writing systems, though successful full translations remain limited. Human scholars provide the contextual knowledge, cultural understanding, and verification necessary to convert AI pattern-detection into legitimate linguistic breakthroughs.

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