AI Model for Ancient Papyri.

As anyone who has been following LH for any length of time will be aware, I am no fan of “AI,” but this seems like a situation in which large language models could be of great use; the Austrian Academy of Sciences reports: The Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) is collaborating with Mistral AI and Sail Reply, a Reply Group Company, on the development of a Large Language Model (LLM) for Ancient Greek: Apollo, named after the Greek god of light and patron of the arts and sciences, will propel research on ancient Greek texts. The model supports advanced searching and automatic text restoration in hundreds of thousands of undeciphered papyri and inscriptions, making it possible to accurately capture content in a matter of hours rather than years. The OeAW and its partners are doing pioneering work, as LLMs have not yet been developed for a historical language evolving over many centuries or the reconstruction of heavily damaged ancient texts. On behalf of the OeAW, the project is led by…