Associated Press
Global technology leader and founder of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, recently made a shocking prediction on social media platform X (formerly Twitter): robotic surgeons will surpass human top surgeons within five years. He cited the practices of his brain-machine interface company Neuralink, emphasizing that robotic technology has surpassed human physiological limits and is the future direction for high-precision surgeries.
In a post on the 27th, Musk pointed out that current human surgeons are unable to meet the speed and precision required for the electrode implantation surgeries of Neuralink’s brain-machine interface. This surgery requires precise operations within millimeter-level brain tissue, while robots, with their sub-millimeter positioning capabilities and millisecond response times, can significantly reduce surgical trauma and risks. This technological breakthrough not only confirms the feasibility of robotic surgery but also provokes deep reflection in the medical community regarding the “human-machine collaboration” model.
Musk’s assertion is not unfounded. Just days ago, global medical device giant Medtronic released the latest clinical data for its Hugo robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) system: in 137 urological surgeries (covering the prostate, kidneys, bladder, etc.), the system achieved a success rate of 98.5%, far exceeding the initial target of 85%. Only 2 cases required conversion to traditional surgery, due to equipment failure and the patient’s complex condition.
This data starkly contrasts with the average level of human surgeons. According to statistics from the New England Journal of Medicine, the complication rate for similar surgeries performed by human doctors is about 5%-10%, while the Hugo system, through 3D imaging, force feedback, and AI path planning, has reduced the error rate to below 0.5%.
Musk’s radical prediction is not an isolated case. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has also publicly stated that AI and robotic technology will reshape the distribution of medical resources. He pointed out that the global shortage of doctors has exceeded 15 million, and AI systems can alleviate this crisis by analyzing medical images in real-time, generating treatment plans, and even simulating surgical paths.
Gates further proposed that in the future, AI medical tools will be deployed via the cloud, enabling hospitals in remote areas to achieve diagnostic capabilities equivalent to top medical centers. For example, rural clinics in Africa could collaborate with AR glasses and AI assistants to perform complex surgeries without relying on dispatched experts.
Despite the promising technological prospects, robotic surgery still faces ethical controversies. Critics worry that over-reliance on AI may weaken doctors’ clinical judgment, and equipment failures or algorithmic biases could lead to irreversible consequences. In response, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has introduced new regulations requiring all surgical robots to undergo “human doctor-AI dual redundancy verification” to ensure that human intervention is possible in case of system failures.
However, most experts believe that human-machine collaboration will be the mainstream trend. The director of the Johns Hopkins University Robotic Surgery Center stated: “In the future, surgeons will transform into ‘system commanders’, focusing on preoperative planning and postoperative decision-making, while robots will handle repetitive and high-risk operations.”
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