This 17-Year-Old Created an AI Tool to Help Doctors with Their Notes
Image credit: The Straits Times
Inspired by his parents’ long working hours in the medical field, seventeen-year-old student John Tow has developed SGscribe, an artificial intelligence powered medical transcription tool designed to reduce the administrative workload for doctors.
Both of John’s parents work in healthcare. His father is an orthopaedic surgeon, and his mother is an anaesthesiologist. Growing up, John found it difficult to spend time with them due to their busy schedules. Observing the time they spent writing medical notes, he set out to build a tool that could help simplify that process.
Turning Voice into Medical Records
Image credit: The Straits Times
SGscribe is a web-based transcription tool that uses speech recognition and natural language processing to turn spoken medical consultations into structured notes. It follows the SOAP format—Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan—commonly used in clinical settings. Doctors can record live sessions or upload audio files. The tool supports English, Mandarin, Malay, and Indonesian, and can handle conversations with more than one language.
According to John, SGscribe reaches about 90% accuracy, though it may struggle with unclear speech. It has processed over 200 real and test consultations. For privacy, the system removes names and personal details, ensuring the notes reflect only the content of the consultation.
From a School Project to a Healthcare Solution
John started working on SGscribe in May 2025 while studying at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent). It began as a school idea but quickly turned into a working tool. He spent two months building it and tested it using recorded medical conversations. With help from his parents and former students from his school, he got three doctors to try it. One of them, Dr Lo Ngai Nung, said the tool helped him focus better during consultations and liked that it could handle two languages at once.
John used 100 SGD from his savings to run the tool and used free software made for students. SGscribe is still being tested and is not yet used in clinics or hospitals. John wants to keep it free and support it through extra features and ads. After he finishes his studies and national service, he plans to take a year off to work on SGscribe full time.
What This Tool Means for Medical and Healthcare Professionals
Some people may wonder if artificial intelligence belongs in clinics. Healthcare is built on trust, care, and human connection. SGscribe does not replace doctors. It supports them by handling repetitive tasks such as writing notes. This allows doctors to focus more on their patients.
In busy hospitals or smaller clinics, the tool can help save time and improve accuracy. It may also be useful for younger doctors or those working in rural areas who need to manage many patients with limited support. Artificial intelligence is already part of some clinics today, and SGscribe shows how the right technology can give doctors more time to care and less time spent on paperwork.
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