Researchers are using cutting-edge AI models to “read” ancient scrolls superheated by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79, which covered much of the Bay of Naples in ash—including the now-famous towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Though the work to decode the scrolls began centuries before the artificial intelligence revolution emerged, myriad new technologies are making that work easier and faster than ever before.

As a term, “AI” is often as unwieldy as the technology itself, and thrown around in sweeping terms. What does it actually mean for AI to decode what has eluded humans for centuries? We spoke with experts working on the algorithms and models that are deciphering and cataloguing the classics to find out.