As a Pharmacy student, I can attest that a big portion of our time in class is dedicated to learning how to decode the bad handwriting of doctors. After all, the health of patients depends on it. Tech is also another possible approach to solving that problem, and now, Google is giving it a shot.

Google has announced in its annual India event that it's working with pharmacists to decipher the handwriting of doctors, and make prescriptions easier to read with the help of technology. To that effect, the company is working on a solution that will allow you to upload a picture of a prescription and have Google decode it and give you the names of the prescribed medicines, as well as their dosage and instructions.

Google makes it clear that "no decision will be made solely based on the output provided by this technology." Instead, this is made to help pharmacists that are trying, and struggling, to read prescriptions --- if they have doubts over specific items in the prescription, Google's AI magic can help them double-check and make sure that you're actually getting what your doctor prescribed for you.

Once this rolls out, your pharmacist's life should be made a little easier, although they might still need to call your doctor for triple-checking every once in a while.

Source: TechCrunch