Watch: First passages of Herculaneum scroll deciphered by AI

The famous Herculaneum scroll, an ancient library of papyrus scrolls found buried by the Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79AD, has been deciphered by artificial intelligence (AI).

Three students, taking part in the Vesuvius challenge, used algorithms to scan the artifact, which would otherwise have been destroyed if unraveled by human hands.

The students, from the US, Egypt, and Switzerland, read more than 2,000 unseen texts that discussed sources of pleasure, including music and the colour purple.

The students will now share a prize of $700,000 for uncovering hundreds of words across more than 15 columns of text.