Archaeological search engine adds a new dimension to 'digging'

Apps that can precisely identify shards, coins or heel bones: archaeology has embraced artificial intelligence. Alex Brandsen is working on a search engine that scans vast quantities of text from an archaeological viewpoint. An archaeologist by training, he spent time working as a programmer, before returning to University to study for a PhD combining the two "I've noticed at [archaeology] conferences over the last two years that AI has become a real buzzword, and a lot of money and energy are going into it." Brandsen is working on a search engine for archaeologists that can quickly and effectively scan all the excavation reports of Dutch finds. "For example, if you search under burial rites in the Middle Ages, the search engine needs to understand that the term 1200 CE is also relevant. There are thousands of terms that mean Middle Ages and it has to find them all. It must also be able to distinguish between a bill as a bladed weapon and a researcher whose name is Bill."