[U: prototype] Google Lens has a prescription for your doctor’s bad handwriting

Update: December 20, 2022, at 8:00 A.M. EST – Google has reached out to clarify that the demonstration shown below by Google for India is exclusively a research prototype of a machine learning model. It is not yet ready for public use, but they are excited about what will be possible when it finally rolls out.

Original article: December 11, 2022, at 1:32 P.M. EST – Google’s machine learning and computer vision technology has reached new heights over the past year. From helping you identify styles of clothing, to becoming available on the desktop, and even letting you combine keyword searches with images to supercharge and refine your results.

Today, Google India’s Twitter account put out an announcement which revealed that your doctor’s messy, handwritten medical prescriptions would no longer be ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform. By pointing your phone camera at the nonsensical, super-slanted scribble your medical professional picked up after 12 years of schooling, you’ll be in and out of your local drugstore for what you need to get well – no squinting or guesswork needed.

According to TechCrunch who first heard about the feature from Google directly, the new implementation is being rolled out with the help of pharmacists who, as you can probably already tell, are the only ones who can speak ancient alien.

We’ve started working on the complex process of identifying what’s written on medical prescriptions by building an assistive model to digitise it, using AI, for medical healthcare professionals.#GoogleForIndia pic.twitter.com/XD8YwJ6HBr

— Google India (@GoogleIndia) December 19, 2022

While there are certainly differences in how many doctors write their scripts, there’s probably a tradition where they pass down the knowledge of this otherworldly handwriting technique to the next generation, and it seems like Google has tapped them for assistance. All jokes aside, the most important thing is that whoever you hand the piece of paper to in the pharmacy can read it, and they most certainly can, but it’s nice for you to know as well. I imagine this will come in handy for pharmacists more than anyone.

Once you’ve scanned the prescription, Lens will discover all medication names mentioned, highlight them, and even let you tap to hear their names read aloud. If you’re wondering why Google India announced this, it’s because India is one of the largest Lens users in the world. Let me know in the comments if you would find yourself using this once it becomes available to you!