GPT-6 Astra cracks a 217-year-old military cipher in six hours
Starting from a single historical scan, Astra transcribed about 1,300 handwritten cipher units, reconstructed 155 symbols and ran an annealing solver to recover a March 1809 military briefing to General Marmont.
Timeline is getting crazy. enjoy the pre-ASI era.. AI is starting to unlock centuries of forgotten knowledge. It just cracked a 217-year-old cipher. From a single historical scan, GPT-6 Astra reportedly completed the entire cipher-solving workflow in just ~6 hours of model work. > Transcribed ~1,300 handwritten cipher units > Reconstructed 155 distinct symbols > Combined a partial historical key with its own cryptanalysis > Built and ran a simulated-annealing solver > Identified 29 whole-word symbols > Cross-checked the decoded text against the original image > Reconstructed the historical context and corrected the date from 1807 to March 1809 The decoded document is a military briefing sent to General Auguste de Marmont shortly before Austria invaded in April 1809. It reports troop positions and movements and helps recover a passage missing from Napoleon's later published correspondence. Enjoy the beginning of AI breaking mysteries. more detailed: https://carter.church/writeups/the-letter-to-marmont/
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