Baidu Health Launches Interactive AI Medication Instructions to Support Age-Friendly Reform

As China’s population aging intensifies, the elderly demographic using medications is growing steadily, making the age-friendly reform of drug package inserts an increasingly prominent social concern. Many older adults struggle with excessively small font sizes on drug labels, often requiring magnifying glasses to read them. Furthermore, the predominantly technical and obscure language used in most inserts significantly hinders comprehension among the elderly, creating substantial barriers to safe and scientific medication use. On October 17, Robin Li, CEO of Baidu, announced the official launch of an interactive AI-powered drug package insert at the Baidu World Conference. First introduced by Baidu Health, this product aims to respond to national calls for age-friendly reforms in drug labeling. By leveraging the Ernie large language model and innovative digital human technology, it enables real-time interaction between users and virtual pharmacist avatars, effectively addressing the common pain points associated with traditional paper inserts—namely, illegibility, incomprehensibility, and overly small text.

Previously, researchers have sought to improve drug package inserts by upgrading from the traditional paper-based format (Phase 1.0) to a video-based format featuring pharmacist explanations (Phase 2.0). However, challenges persist, including verbose content, overly generalized guidance, and an inability to address diverse, long-tail questions.

To break through the numerous limitations of current drug package inserts, Baidu Health has launched its Phase 3.0 AI Drug Instructions, offering users multiple convenient access methods. Users can obtain basic drug information by taking photos of medication packaging using the image recognition feature in the Baidu App, searching for “AI Drug Instructions” on Baidu, or accessing the “AI Drug Instructions” WeChat mini-program. In the future, users will also be able to scan exclusive QR codes on medication packaging. This interactive Q&A format significantly enhances the flexibility and usability of drug instructions. Currently, the AI Drug Instructions cover thousands of common medications, with coverage expected to exceed ten thousand by the end of the year, achieving a coverage rate of over 90% for commonly used drugs, thereby providing robust support for users’ diverse needs for medication knowledge.

Leveraging Baidu Intelligent Cloud’s Xiling Digital Human Platform, the product delivers one-on-one interactive services to users through a digital avatar of a real licensed pharmacist. This technology enables accurate and vivid facial expression driving and supports multi-voice broadcasting, significantly enhancing user experience. Users can interact with the virtual avatar in real time, asking questions via text or voice to consult the AI Medication Guide for comprehensive drug information across multiple dimensions. Currently, the AI Medication Guide supports multi-turn interactions covering key medication leaflet details—such as dosage specifications, administration methods and dosages, timing of intake, adverse reactions, contraindications, and medication summaries—thereby helping users obtain a personalized service experience.

Notably, the AI-generated medication instructions are derived from objective and authoritative pharmaceutical data, which have been meticulously reviewed by professional pharmacists before being integrated into the Wenxin large language model, thereby effectively ensuring the accuracy and safety of popular science information on medications. Furthermore, the Phase 3.0 AI medication instructions will introduce a new medication reminder feature. This feature allows users to set medication schedules and receive reminders via push notifications or voice alerts to ensure timely adherence.

Baidu Health’s newly released AI-powered medication instructions, now in their 3.0 iteration, align with national initiatives for age-friendly reforms. The “Work Plan for Pilot Programs on Age-Friendly Reform of Drug Package Inserts (Draft for Comment),” drafted under the auspices of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), explicitly requires medical institutions, pharmaceutical retailers, and other relevant entities to fully account for the medication-use characteristics of diverse patient populations and to strengthen medication guidance and services. Compared with the paper-based package inserts of version 1.0 and the electronic video-based instructions of version 2.0, the 3.0 AI-powered medication instructions offer more flexible application scenarios. Tailored to the needs of vulnerable groups such as older adults and individuals with disabilities, they leverage real-time interactive capabilities to deliver more considerate and reassuring services.

Leveraging the AI-powered medication instructions in Phase 3.0 as a catalyst, Baidu Health will continue to deliver more professional, efficient, and convenient medical services to diverse patient groups, including the elderly, through digital innovation. This initiative aims to safeguard patients’ medication health and safety, thereby enhancing their quality of life and well-being.