Can A.I. solve one of the oldest mysteries of linguistics?

There are many things that distinguish humans from other species, but one of the most important is language. The ability to string together various elements in essentially infinite combinations is a trait that "has often in the past been considered to be the core defining feature of modern humans, the source of human creativity, cultural enrichment, and complex social structure," as linguist Noam Chomsky once said. But as important as language has been in the evolution of humans, there is still much we don't know about how language has evolved. While dead languages like Latin have a wealth of written records and descendants through which we can better understand it, some languages are lost to history. Researchers have been able to reconstruct some lost languages, but the process of deciphering them can be a long one.