Illegible doctor’s notes are something most people have faced. You want to know what the doc has written because their handwriting is simply not understandable. It is such a cliché, but it is true. However, Google is now tapping into artificial intelligence to help solve this niche issue.
In a blog post, Google says it is developing an AI assistive software that can transform messy handwritten medical notes into easy-to-read text. The company points out it is working directly with pharmacists to help train the AI model.
Why pharmacists? Well, for some reason these people are able to read doctors’ handwriting. They have experience reading prescriptions and can help Google’s AI learn to as well. The new ability was announced by the company at the Google for India event.
“The humble prescription is the ubiquitous building block upon which much of public and private healthcare rests. While these often tend to be handwritten and are hard to read, the information is important for both patients and their healthcare providers, for early diagnosis or self management.”
New AI Model
Doctors use shorthand writing and often jot down notes as quickly as possible. AI can already translate images to text, but messy handwriting is more of a challenge. Google’s new AI model uses machine learning technology to identify and highlight words within a doctor’s note.
“We announced today a state-of-the-art AI and machine learning model that can identify and even highlight medicines within handwritten prescriptions. This will act as an assistive technology for digitizing handwritten medical documents by augmenting the humans in the loop such as pharmacists, however no decision will be made solely based on the output provided by this technology.”
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