Some days, I’m overwhelmed by how fast technology is improving. Today, I feel like I’m running Windows 98.
The fundamental challenge of a machine reading handwritten postal addresses was solved before 1998. So why can’t even the most advanced AI algorthims from the top tech companies read a handwritten note in 2023? (This is not a rhetorical question.)
Optical character recognition (OCR) for digital text is ubiquitous, free, and fast. The built-in camera app on your iPhone will scan digitally-printed text basically in real-time. Google Translate will overlay the translation of signs/receipts/packaging in augmented reality.
Ironically, one of the classic tutorials in machine learning education is recognizing handwritten digits. Apparently only the US Postal Service has the talent to put this into production. Either that, or no one can think of a way that handwriting OCR would make them money. An efficient way to digitize pen and paper means that people would spend less time on their phones/computers/tablets, which would mean fewer notifications and less ad revenue. It would also mean that a plain piece of paper might displace the need for a $1500 tablet with a cool “pencil” to boot…and that’s bad for hardware sales. (Not to mention less data to spy on.)
I’ve been obsessed with finding the best tools for handwriting OCR, as a way of digitizing my analog notes (with the goal of reducing my screen time). Ironically, my journey thus far has only added to my screentime, trying to find and try “handwriting to text” tools that might unlock this workflow for me.
My conclusion as of today: the best handwriting OCR tools are already built into your phone. For iOS, use the “Scan Documents” feature inside of Notes. For Android, it’s called Google Lens. Don’t waste your time or money on any of the other apps for this — they all suck. Adobe gets a dishonorable mention for how terrible their OCR is for handwriting. (Given that they have monopolized PDF and “regular” OCR forever, they should be the best, not the worst.)
If you find a handwriting OCR app that doesn’t suck, please contact me immediately. I am hoping that maybe in 15 more years, I can finally digitize my handwritten notes.