Piecing together an ancient epic was slow work until AI got involved

In 1872, in a quiet second-floor room at the British Museum, George Smith, a museum employee, was studying a grime-encrusted clay tablet when he came across words that would change his life. In the ancient cuneiform script, he recognized references to a stranded ship and a bird sent in search of land. After he had the tablet cleaned, Smith was certain he’d found a prototype of the biblical flood story.

“I am the first man to read that after more than 2,000 years of oblivion,” Smith reportedly said in a frenzy of excitement.