Akkadian cuneiform, one of the world’s oldest written languages, has long posed a challenge for translation due to the scarcity of individuals proficient in the extinct language. However, a recent breakthrough has come in the form of an artificial intelligence (A.I.) tool that can decode Akkadian texts within seconds.
An interdisciplinary team of computer science and history researchers, led by a Google software engineer and an Assyriologist from Ariel University, developed an A.I. model capable of instantly translating the ancient glyphs. The model was trained using existing cuneiform translations, leveraging the same technology employed by Google Translate.
While the A.I. translation of cuneiform still exhibits occasional errors and “hallucinations” common to A.I. systems, it significantly reduces the time and human effort required for initial text processing. The tool’s ability to quickly decipher the Akkadian texts offers a remarkable advancement, although caution is warranted due to the inherent unreliability of A.I. outputs.
According to McCoy, one of the researchers involved, A.I. is currently both remarkable and unreliable. While it performs amazing tasks, the output it generates must be approached with a level of skepticism. Nevertheless, the A.I.-assisted translation of Akkadian cuneiform marks a significant leap forward in deciphering this ancient language, unlocking a wealth of knowledge and providing researchers with a valuable resource for understanding our human history.
