Robots can never replace human surgeons
It’s 2100. We are living in the “metaverse”—self-driving cars line the streets, entrepreneurs craze over Bitcoin and college students teleport to their cyber-physical classrooms. It sounds like a technological marvel for some but a virtual dystopia for others.
For the foreseeable future, we may see some far-fetched science fiction ideas become scientifically possible. Telemedicine’s growth foregrounds a surge in telesurgery where doctors perform remote surgery on patients in other cities, states, continents or space.
You may nervously inquire, “Will there ever be such a thing as a doctorless hospital?”
A life marked by mental illness or cancer may find itself in the hands of robots. Silicon Valley investors predict that robots have the potential to replace 90% of medical personnel in the hospital. A doctorless hospital sounds like a scene from a horror movie, but it will likely never become our reality.
In the age of robotics and artificial intelligence, we will always need doctors and surgeons no matter how technologically advanced we become.
In ophthalmology, for example, LASIK heavily relies on technology in its two-step procedure: the creation of the corneal flap and corneal reshaping with an excimer laser. Although the programmed excimer laser creates the corneal flap and reshapes the cornea, the ophthalmologist hand seals the corneal flap at the surgery’s beginning and end.
Dr. Lily Peng, a physician-scientist and product manager at Google Health, currently leads a team of clinicians, researchers and engineers studying artificial intelligence’s potential to help healthcare workers detect diabetic retinopathy at an earlier stage and prevent patient blindness. AI will improve healthcare by providing a faster and more accurate diagnosis through prediction of disease patterns; however, AI can only assist and not fully replace medical personnel because it lacks the sense of human camaraderie that is needed in the operating room.
Created in 2000, the da Vinci surgical robot is a two-armed machine that assists surgeons in performing complex, minimally invasive surgical procedures with precision and accuracy. To date, da Vinci technologies have performed more than 8.5 million procedures around the globe.
Although technology offers brilliant solutions, they pale in comparison to what only we possess: the human brain.
Humans are innovative and capable of dealing with change and uncertainty. A master surgical plan is not always foolproof; if heart rate declines or breathing stops, only a trained surgeon can circumvent these unforeseen circumstances. We program machines to do repetitive and data-based tasks, while humans naturally conduct complex analyses and make difficult decisions on the spot.
Technologies cannot mimic empathy — we, as humans, naturally crave touch and interaction. Although patients do not interact with the surgeon during surgery, the process of building trust lies at the core of compassion: listening to the patient, respecting and understanding their concerns and acting in the best interest of the patient.
USC offers interdisciplinary majors, such as health and the human sciences, to emphasize the “human” component in medicine, and classes such as “Introduction to Surgical Principles” develop students’ appreciation of surgery’s role in society.
In the practice of medicine, a physician must be culturally competent and educated about the communities they serve to provide quality of healthcare at the highest caliber. Keck School of Medicine even offers a Master of Science in narrative medicine, which teaches the skills necessary to understand stories in the clinical setting. Consequently, the course helps students better understand the relationship between clinical medicine, public health and social justice.
Human doctors and surgeons can never become extinct. As we enter an age of exponentially developing technology, it is clear that robots may become an integral part of assisting in surgery rather than a replacement for surgeons.