From Scalpel to Algorithm: How AI is Redefining Surgery?

Abstract

The history of surgery is, in many respects, a chronicle of technological innovation. Each leap from the adoption of anesthesia to the rise of laparoscopic techniques has not only improved patient outcomes but also reshaped the surgeon’s role. Today, we stand at another critical inflection point: the transition from scalpel to algorithm. Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a peripheral tool in operating rooms; it is beginning to define the very framework within which surgery is conceptualized, taught, and delivered. A recent landmark, in which a surgeon successfully performed an operation across national borders by directing an AI-enabled robotic system, exemplifies this paradigm shift. What was once considered science fiction the remote, algorithm-guided execution of surgical procedures has now entered the domain of clinical reality. Such advances raise both optimism and unease, as they challenge us to rethink what it means to perform surgery in an era when decision-making and execution are increasingly shared between human expertise and intelligent machines