In many other corners of medicine, AI is already changing patient care. More than 80% of U.S. physicians say they use AI tools as a knowledge co-pilot to double-check diagnoses, help find drug doses, write clinical notes, read scans, and interpret test results. Emerging programs help doctors answer concrete “yes” or “no” questions, automate administrative work, and distill information.
Surgery, however, presents a different kind of problem.
More than 4 million people die within a month of surgery every year, making postoperative mortality a leading cause of death globally. Complications can unfold in the weeks before an operation, when a patient’s blood sugar, nutrition, and anxiety shape how well their body will cope with the procedure. Others can emerge during the long recovery afterward, when missed physical therapy appointments and unread discharge instructions slow healing. AI that could support patients and clinicians across that entire arc would be far more transformative for surgeons than any robot in the operating room.
