Who are we? Why do we do what we do? These are the questions that have plagued humanity since its earliest days.

The search for answers has often led us to look behind us, to the long chain of ancestors who might be able to tell us why we look how we do, sound like we do and believe what we do. The website Ancestry.com, which helps people trace their lineage, has sold more than 15 million DNADeoxyribonucleic acid is the material in an organism that carries genetic information. kits for this very purpose.¹

Not just individuals, but whole nations, look to history to get a sense of who they really are. When Germany formed itself into one country in 1871, it created a cult around the ancient German commander ArminiusThe Germanic Cherusci tribe chieftain who died in 21AD. , who defeated the Romans at the Battle of Teutoburg ForestA battle which took place in 9AD between the Roman empire and Germanic insurgents. Germanic leader Arminius likely prevented Rome from subjugating Germania east of the Rhine. and thereby secured his people's independence from Roman domination.²

But we often find we can only go back so far. More than two hundred years and the evidence is already fragmentary, distorted. When we try to find our ancestors of two thousand years ago, we have found an empty void of evidence.

Nonetheless, human beings are nothing if not resourceful. DNA tests revolutionised the search for individual ancestors. Now AIA computer programme that has been designed to think.  is revolutionising the search for whole nations' origins.

Early last year, three scholars announced an astonishing leap forward in the study of ancient history.

Centuries before, archaeologists had excavated hundreds of scrolls from a library in HerculaneumAn ancient city that was buried under volcanic ash after the eruption of Vesuvius in AD79. It is close to Pompeii. , which was buried by Vesuviusa volcano near Naples, southern Italy. It erupted in 79 AD, destroying the Ancient Roman cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. along with its more famous sister city PompeiiA Roman town in Italy. It was buried under ash after a nearby volcano erupted. The ash preserved the town so well that today people can walk through the streets and into some buildings.. The scrolls were intact but completely carbonised, meaning that efforts to unroll them had simply destroyed them.

However, using AI, the scholarly trio was able to read them without needing to unroll them. Their software exposed just 2,000 letters, but it was enough to turn the whole discipline of ancient history on its head.³

Astonishingly, one scroll revealed all-new information about the death of PlatoOne of the most important Ancient Greek philosophers. , the philosopher widely regarded as the father of all European thought.

This breakthrough followed other innovative uses of AI to uncover lost history. In 2021, Daniel Patt, a software engineer and descendant of HolocaustThe murder of six million Jewish people in Europe by Nazi Germany. Members of other minority groups were also killed. survivors, launched Numbers to Names, a website that uses facial recognition AI to identify people murdered by the NazisA German political party of the twentieth century, led by Adolf Hitler. The Nazis controlled Germany from the early 1930s until the end of World War II..⁴

What does this all mean for us? Our history has always shaped our sense of who we are. Whether or not they have ever read him, modern people's way of thinking has been profoundly influenced by Plato's approach to logic.

In his method, two opposing arguments are allowed to play out against each other, and then a synthesisIn philosophy, the final phases of reasoning in which a new idea resolves a conflict. is found between them. This is still how most of us reason today.

But Plato's mentor SocratesConsidered by some to be the greatest philosopher in history, Socrates is credited with developing the whole notion of critical reason. famously only knew that he knew nothing. And when it comes to ancient history, at least, we are in much the same boat.

It may be that these new technologies reveal things we would never have dreamt about our own past. We believe Plato learned maths in EgyptA country linking northeast Africa with the Middle East. - what if we discovered in newly-deciphered scrolls that the real cradle of European philosophy was not Athens, but Africa?

It might be we come to recognise our societies are more deeply connected than we ever dreamt.

Will this affect how we live?

Yes: Our history has always defined our sense of who we are. Yet we have only ever seen that history through a glass, darkly. Now technology proposes to illuminate the whole. We may have to change everything we think about ourselves.

No: "True" history has always been less important to us than myth, and myths are extremely hardy. Much of what people believe to be historical is actually a fabrication. New information will not change that.

Or... It is unlikely that new breakthroughs will change how we live immediately. But over the course of time, it is certain to make a difference to how we behave.

DNA - Deoxyribonucleic acid is the material in an organism that carries genetic information.

Arminius - The Germanic Cherusci tribe chieftain who died in 21AD.

Battle of Teutoburg Forest - A battle which took place in 9AD between the Roman empire and Germanic insurgents. Germanic leader Arminius likely prevented Rome from subjugating Germania east of the Rhine.

AI - A computer programme that has been designed to think. 

Herculaneum - An ancient city that was buried under volcanic ash after the eruption of Vesuvius in AD79. It is close to Pompeii.

Vesuvius - a volcano near Naples, southern Italy. It erupted in 79 AD, destroying the Ancient Roman cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii.

Pompeii - A Roman town in Italy. It was buried under ash after a nearby volcano erupted. The ash preserved the town so well that today people can walk through the streets and into some buildings.

Plato - One of the most important Ancient Greek philosophers. 

Holocaust - The murder of six million Jewish people in Europe by Nazi Germany. Members of other minority groups were also killed.

Nazis - A German political party of the twentieth century, led by Adolf Hitler. The Nazis controlled Germany from the early 1930s until the end of World War II.

Synthesis - In philosophy, the final phases of reasoning in which a new idea resolves a conflict.

Socrates - Considered by some to be the greatest philosopher in history, Socrates is credited with developing the whole notion of critical reason.

Egypt - A country linking northeast Africa with the Middle East.