Elon Musk pledges financial support for AI project aimed at deciphering Roman Scrolls
Elon Musk has pledged financial assistance to a project that aims to utilize artificial intelligence in order to digitally decipher ancient scrolls that have remained indecipherable for centuries.
Bloomberg Businessweek reported this week a breakthrough in a project known as the Vesuvius Challenge, led by former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. A group of competitors managed to scan scrolls from the Roman city of Herculaneum, which was charred by the volcanic eruption that buried Pompeii, and read entire passages from them using artificial intelligence.
The Musk Foundation, the billionaire’s philanthropic organization, is providing the funding, Musk wrote on social media X on Wednesday. Musk said in a message to Bloomberg that he did not know how much he would contribute. “Any amount is helpful,” he wrote. “I am in favor of the enlightenment of civilization.”
Friedman said the next phase of the work will allow the team to read entire scrolls and cost about $2 million. Unraveling each of the scrolls found so far at Herculaneum could cost up to $10 million, Friedman said.
“I was shocked and excited to see Elon tweet his support for the next steps of the Vesuvius Challenge, and we welcome all his input!” Friedman wrote in a message to Bloomberg. “All donations are very useful. We are in contact with the Elon team and are working out the details of their support.
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