AI to read ‘illegible’ Brunel handwriting
HE MAY have been one of Britain’s most prolific engineers, but Isambard Kingdom Brunel had notoriously terrible handwriting.
Now researchers are hoping a transcription computer programme will help decode his “almost impossible to read” writing and uncover secrets about the Victorian engineer, who designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
The SS Great Britain Trust has tens of thousands of pages from Brunel’s diaries and letters, but his script is barely legible. The team has now designed AI software that scans Brunel’s documents and learns to decipher his handwriting.
The programme, called Transkribus, was developed by the University of Innsbruck and University College London, and can now read Brunel’s writing with 65 per cent accuracy.
Dominic Rowe, marketing manager for the trust, said the handwritten artefacts could “deepen our understanding of the way he thought, who he was”.
“As a British icon, he is known as being quite ruthless and really hardworking, but we know there was anxiety that he felt about projects. We are always trying to find out who the guy was behind the top hat.”
The team is testing the software on one of Brunel’s diaries. “We’re only just starting to experiment as to what… secrets this could unlock,” said Nick Booth, head of collections at the Trust.