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Here is a really positive application of AI that will be of considerable benefit to historians. It is a model that facilitates, in a predictive text sort of way, the completion of missing fragments of Latin inscriptions. It is wonderful. As the article points out it can process a quantity of data that no human brain is capable of holding. It is a smart use of the tool.Although I too worry about the social, intellectual and creative implications of AI, as well as its risks in the hands of malevolent actors, there is little point in bemoaning it. It is here. What we need to do is to see how we can use it for good. In some ways it is just a few thousand steps along the same line of doing a google search, which we've been doing for years. It can be a handy research tool, although it must be constantly challenged, cross-checked and reviewed with sharp critical thinking. Critical thinking skills are key for the future, if humans are to retain autonomy.Meanwhile projects like this can add significantly to the sum of human knowledge. In other instances it may propel major advances in healthcare or speed up the justice system. Of course as an old fogey I'm a bit wary of 'it' but I know enough not to ignore it. We must grab it and learn how to control it. No-one has yet successfully returned a genie to its bottle. ... See MoreSee Less

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