Napoleon's Two-Century-Old Secret Military Letter Decoded with Artificial Intelligence
An encrypted 1809 letter by Napoleon Bonaparte has been made legible in just six hours by AI engineer Carter Church.
A Napoleon Bonaparte-era letter, unsolved for over two centuries and containing critical pre-war military intelligence between France and Austria, has finally been shed light upon with the support of modern technology.
Content and Historical Significance of the Letter
Sent by Napoleon to General Auguste de Marmont in 1809, the letter contains important information regarding secret troop movements prior to the war between France and Austria. The correspondence details the forces and positions of the two countries while asking Marmont to prepare for a march.
The Process of Decoding with Artificial Intelligence
Carter Church, an artificial intelligence engineer working at a cybersecurity company, made the complex text consisting of approximately 1,300 characters fully legible for the first time with the help of artificial intelligence. The system analyzed the symbols and tested millions of combinations, taking six hours to complete the process.
Marmont's Military Activities and Aftermath
General Marmont later took action with his troops in the region currently within the borders of Croatia, supporting Napoleon's victory and ultimately rising to the rank of marshal. Experts note that the encryption of the letter was lost over time.
Past Similar Studies and Impact
Engineer Carter Church stated that he began this work inspired by the previous artificial intelligence decoding of a 1941 encrypted German military message. Experts noted that while the cipher could have been solved by human cryptologists, it would have required a very long time.