Peer inside the Herculaneum scroll for the first time in 2,000 years: Scientists use AI to virtually unfurl a 'badly burnt' manuscript that was charred during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius

It's been left unread for nearly 2,000 years, last glimpsed when the Roman Empire ruled over Europe. Now, scientists have used AI to virtually unfurl one of the Herculaneum scrolls – the ancient documents buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. 'It's an incredible moment in history as librarians, computer scientists and scholars of the classical period are collaborating to see the unseen,' said Richard Ovenden, senior executive Bodleian Libraries. 'The astonishing strides forward made with imaging, and AI are enabling us to look inside scrolls that have not been read for almost 2,000 years.' The Herculaneum scrolls are thought to contain profound philosophical and literary texts from ancient Greek and Roman scholars. The problem is that any attempts to unroll the burnt cylinders will turn them to dust because they are so fragile – meaning the words would be lost forever.