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A 2,000-year-old ‘lost book’ discussing the dynasties that succeeded Alexander the Great may finally be deciphered nearly two millennia after the text was partially destroyed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE and centuries later handed off to Napoleon Bonaparte. The reason for the breakthrough? Researchers are using machine learning – a branch of artificial intelligence – to discern the faint ink on the rolled-up papyrus scroll. “It’s probably a lost work,” said Richard Janko, the Gerald F. Else distinguished university professor of classical studies at the University of Michigan. The research is not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal.