AI is helping to find hidden symbols at the Nazca Lines of Peru. Located in the Nazca Desert, there’s a huge collection of etchings that are visible from a height. AI had already started achieving success in the field of research.
The historical background
The etchings were discovered in 1920. Since then, the mystery of these etchings has confused the Scientists a lot. These were created somewhere between 200 BCE to 600 CE. Etchings were to show various geometric animals, shapes, and people.
These depictions are known as Geoglyphs. In 1994, UNESCO announced it as a World Heritage Site. Even after such popular justice to the place, the main suspense lies behind this place’s history that still puts all Scientists in a thoughtful state.
The first efforts
The first efforts
A team by Masato Sakai at Yamagato University in Japan made the first effort to find out. He wanted to know about the Etchings’ significance and also wanted to try and preserve them. His team has found 142 designs of etchings throughout the span of ten years.
Geoglyphs are of two categories. There are animal-like large designs which can be long up to 100 metres (330 feet), and then there are smaller symbols up to 5 metres (16 feet). The larger ones indicate places of ritual, and the smaller ones indicate waypoints for travellers.
Taking the help of AI
Taking the help of AI
Find etchings is becoming harder with time as there is a lot to discover. Urban Expansion, roads and floods have damaged the lines. The researchers think there’s a lot more to explore than they had prepared for. A lot of time will pass if they continue using traditional methods.
Thus, researchers have now collaborated with IBM Research. The team is currently using deep-learning algorithms to speed up the process. They use a cloud platform to gather all sorts of geospatial data to create high-fidelity maps of the area of research.
Conclusion
Over 140 etchings found with the help of AI
The team of IBM Research has already planned and taking the required actions. They are training a neural network to identify data patterns of known lines to find new ones. While testing, the team discovered a small-sized humanoid figure. The figure was missing in the first research.
AI has been capable of finding so much in just a span of a mere two months. On the other hand, the traditional methods took years to do so. The company will be finding even more with the help of AI-let’s hope the researchers find more and more data about this.
