Artificial Intelligence has been of great help when developing applications. Some of the most used applications are designed for language translation. But can you imagine an app dedicated to translating a language that has been extinct for thousands of years?
In 1799, archaeologist Pierre-François Bouchard found the rosetta stone. Which was the key to translating the language of hieroglyphs. Centuries have passed since that discovery and with the arrival of the Artificial Intelligence we can do that process much faster. We mean Fabricius.
Translate hieroglyphs thanks to Google
Since 2018, Google he has been working to digitize what he learned with the Rosetta stone to bring to light a free and open source application whose purpose is to write and decipher the language of pharaohs.
This project has been carried out by Chance Coughenour, archaeologist and head of Google Arts & Culture. He came to recognize that this began as an experiment to test the machine learning that Artificial Intelligence has when it comes to deciphering extinct languages.
The only way that existed to translate the egyptian symbols it was to remember the image and immerse yourself in various books in order to contrast the data because you have to keep in mind that there are very similar hieroglyphs and that made it difficult to translate. “Now with this app we shorten times. If the image is good, in 15 or 20 minutes we have the translation, although we still have a long way to go to decipher all the symbols,” Coughenour explained.
Accessible to all
This application is designed for all types of users, from specialists in egyptology to those who can find in the app a way to entertain themselves.
When you launch the application, Fabricius offers you three modes: work, learn and play.
The learning option explains the origins of the symbology Egyptian, the mode of work is designed for users specialized in the subject and in the game mode serves to write and translate your own texts. In addition, the application also provides didactic topics on the art and culture of the Ancient Egypt.
“The more people use Fabricius, the algorithm they learn more and over time it will become a great alternative. It’s only a matter of time and training”, these words of Coughenour suggest that the more we use the more complete application can come back to surpass even the Rosetta stone itself.
The application is now available, but in the autumn it is expected that the application will be implemented in the Australian Center for Egyptology, institution that has collaborated in numerous projects such as the one with Ubisoft in the development of the video game Assassin’s Creed: Origins.