ChatGPT-powered robot successfully completes gallbladder removal surgery
By isabelle // 2025-07-11
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  • A robot has performed fully autonomous surgery for the first time, removing a simulated gallbladder with human-level precision.
  • The SRT-H robot, developed at Johns Hopkins, executed complex tasks independently, adapting to unexpected challenges without human intervention.
  • Autonomous surgery could revolutionize healthcare by reducing costs and errors but raises ethical and security concerns about AI-driven decisions.
  • Researchers trained the robot using surgical videos and text descriptions, achieving 100% accuracy but working slower than human surgeons.
  • Proponents highlight efficiency gains, while skeptics warn of risks like hacking and the need for rigorous safety testing before human trials.
In a landmark leap for artificial intelligence and medicine, a robot powered by machine learning technology has successfully performed fully autonomous surgery for the first time, removing a simulated gallbladder with precision comparable to a human surgeon. Developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the Surgical Robot Transformer-Hierarchy (SRT-H) executed 17 complex tasks, including identifying delicate ducts, placing clips, and making precise incisions, all without human intervention. This breakthrough signals a future where AI-driven robots could revolutionize centralized healthcare, reducing costs and human error while raising ethical and security concerns.

The birth of autonomous surgery

Unlike existing robotic-assisted systems (like those in the NHS), which require surgeons to control every movement, SRT-H operates independently, adapting in real-time to unexpected challenges such as altered anatomy or dyes obscuring tissue visibility. "This advancement moves us from robots that can execute specific surgical tasks to robots that truly understand surgical procedures," said Axel Krieger, lead researcher and medical roboticist at Johns Hopkins. "This is a critical distinction that brings us significantly closer to clinically viable autonomous surgical systems that can work in the messy, unpredictable reality of actual patient care." The robot trained by analyzing videos of human surgeons performing gallbladder removals on pig cadavers, supplemented with text descriptions of each step. After processing this data, SRT-H replicated the procedure with 100% accuracy, albeit slower than human hands. While this trial used non-living tissue, researchers believe the same principles could soon apply to live operations.

Weighing the pros and cons

Proponents argue autonomous systems could dramatically lower surgical errors, a persistent problem in human-led medicine. "Just as surgical residents often master different parts of an operation at different rates, this work illustrates the promise of developing autonomous robotic systems in a similarly modular and progressive manner," noted co-author Jeff Jopling, a Johns Hopkins surgeon. In the near future, one human surgeon might oversee multiple AI-driven robots simultaneously, each performing different procedures, boosting efficiency in overburdened healthcare systems. Yet skeptics warn of hacking vulnerabilities, malfunction risks, and the ethical dilemma of removing human judgment from life-or-death decisions. Although SRT-H corrected its own mistakes mid-procedure, real-world complications such as bleeding, breathing patients, or instrument failures remain untested. The Royal College of Surgeons of England called the results promising but cautioned that safety and regulation must precede human trials. The technology behind SRT-H mirrors the neural networks of ChatGPT, enabling it to respond to verbal commands ("grab the gallbladder head") and learn from feedback. Earlier attempts at robotic surgery, like Krieger’s 2022 STAR robot, required pre-marked tissues and rigid protocols, akin to teaching a robot to drive on one mapped road. In contrast, SRT-H navigates unpredictable conditions, much like a self-driving car adjusting to traffic. Still, challenges persist. Autonomous systems must prove they can handle dynamic biological environments and not just static cadavers. Factors such as fogged camera lenses, blood, or smoke could add to complications. Full deployment may be years away, but the groundwork is undeniably laid. While robotic surgery isn’t new, true autonomy represents a seismic shift, blending human expertise with machine precision. The promise of lower costs, scalability, and error reduction is tantalizing, but the risks of over-reliance on unproven AI are significant. Will the medical world find a balance between innovation and the irreplaceable value of human touch? Sources for this article include: Mirror.co.uk TheGuardian.com The-Independent.com Hub.JHU.edu
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