The Impact of AI on Pharmacy Practice

Iqra Abbas, Pharm.D. Candidate 2027

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a 21st-century scientific revolution that has already made a significant impact throughout the world. It has the potential to both enhance the pharmacy profession and change it drastically. With the help of AI, certain mundane tasks, such as dispensing prescriptions, can be automated. This frees the pharmacist to do more clinical work, such as interacting with patients. Although there are great potential benefits in incorporating AI into pharmacy practice, there are still serious limitations that must be considered. For example, AI lacks empathy; it cannot provide the patients with emotional support the same way a person can. Furthermore, regulations have yet to be set in place governing the use of AI. This puts its implementation in a gray area and systems that do plan to implement it are taking a massive risk. To conclude, while AI can perform a multitude of tasks such as analyzing patient data, dispensing medications, and identifying adverse events, there are still major limitations and risks still involved in using the technology in practice. This is an exciting area that is still evolving and we need to keep a close eye on its evolution and potential nationwide implementation.