Vesuvius Challenge AI Identifies Philodemus’ On Vices in 1 Carbonized Herculaneum Scroll
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · Jun 7
Vesuvius Challenge AI Identifies Philodemus’ On Vices in 1 Carbonized Herculaneum Scroll
1 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Jun 7
Summary
May 2025 brought a first for the Herculaneum papyri: researchers identified Oxford scroll PHerc. 172 as Philodemus’ On Vices, likely Book 1, marking the first time a buried scroll’s title has been read.
High-resolution synchrotron X-rays and machine-learning models isolated faint carbon ink in the unopened scroll, while papyrologists verified the letters and reconstructed the text rather than leaving the reading to the algorithm alone.
That result extends rapid progress by the Vesuvius Challenge, launched in 2023: a first word was read in October 2023, and more than 2,000 characters were recovered from another Epicurean scroll in February 2024.
The report argues the same AI pattern is reshaping science elsewhere, from Euclid data that yielded 497 strong-lens candidates out of about 1 million ranked galaxies to AlphaFold’s predicted structures for roughly 200 million proteins.
As datasets outgrow human capacity—from more Herculaneum scans to upcoming Rubin Observatory images—the emerging model is narrow AI that ranks vast haystacks first and leaves experts to confirm the discoveries.
AI can now read ancient, carbonized scrolls. Will it rewrite our understanding of ancient history and philosophy?
As AI filters our universe of data, are we discovering new truths or just confirming the patterns it was trained to find?
With AI-designed drugs now entering clinical trials, are we on the verge of curing 'undruggable' diseases?
First-Ever Digital Deciphering of Sealed Herculaneum Scroll Reveals Philodemus’ "On Vices" Using AI
Overview
In June 2026, researchers achieved a historic breakthrough by identifying the Herculaneum scroll PHerc. 172 as 'On Vices' by the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus. This success was made possible by years of collaboration between computer scientists and papyrologists, who used advanced X-ray scans and artificial intelligence to reveal the scroll’s hidden text without unrolling it. Earlier milestones, such as AI revealing a scroll’s title and X-ray scans identifying both title and author, paved the way for this achievement. Overcoming technical challenges in processing scan data, this marks the first time both title and author were read from a sealed scroll using non-invasive digital methods.