4 major scientific breakthroughs achieved by AI in 2024

AI’s transformative impact on scientific discovery reached new heights in 2024, with breakthroughs spanning ancient texts, marine biology, archaeology, and molecular science.

Historic breakthrough in ancient text analysis: The Vesuvius Challenge demonstrated AI’s power to unlock previously inaccessible historical knowledge by decoding carbonized scrolls from ancient Rome.

• Using AI and high-resolution X-rays, researchers decoded over 2,000 characters from scrolls preserved by Mount Vesuvius’s eruption in 79 AD
• The project aims to decode 90% of four scrolls by the end of 2024, revealing unprecedented information about ancient Roman and Greek civilization
• Professor Brent Seales describes the AI technology as a “superpower” that enables researchers to detect ink traces invisible to the human eye

Marine communication advances: AI tools made significant progress in decoding whale communication patterns, opening new possibilities for understanding marine life.

• Machine learning analyzed nearly 9,000 recorded click sequences from approximately 60 Caribbean sperm whales
• The analysis revealed 18 rhythm types, 5 tempo types, and other sophisticated patterns suggesting complex communication structures
• While AI excels at pattern recognition, determining the actual meaning of these whale communications remains a challenge

Archaeological discoveries: AI systems accelerated the discovery of ancient geoglyphs in Peru’s Nazca Desert.

• Researchers trained AI models using high-resolution imagery of 430 known Nazca symbols
• The project identified 303 new figurative geoglyphs in just months, nearly doubling the known count
• Despite generating many false positives, the AI system proved valuable for screening large areas efficiently

Protein structure breakthrough: AlphaFold‘s database revolutionized our understanding of protein structures.

• The AI tool can now predict structures for almost 200 million known proteins
• Over 2 million researchers worldwide have accessed the database
• The achievement earned recognition with the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to its developers
• The tool has limitations with mutated sequences and certain protein variations

Looking ahead: While AI has demonstrated remarkable capabilities in scientific discovery, challenges remain in terms of accuracy, reproducibility, and the “black box” nature of many AI systems. The UK’s Royal Society has raised concerns about these limitations, even as the technology continues to evolve and find new applications across scientific disciplines.