HJBR Jul/Aug 2024

52 JUL / AUG 2024 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE SURGERY ing computers smarter outside the con- ventional binary codes of 0 or 1. But then I thought, why not ask AI what AI means? And here is the answer from ChatGPT: “It refers to the simulation of human intel- ligence processes by machines, such as thinking, learning, problem-solving, un- derstanding language and recognizing patterns. AI technologies include machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing and computer vision, among others.” I think I was pretty close to the right definition. Is AI safe? Like many things in life, AI is a powerful tool with benefits and risks; this tool has a COLUMN SURGERY plans, creating patient-specific instruc- tions, automating radiology reports, 3D modeling of tumors, detecting incidental findings, and the list goes on and on. Of most interest to surgeons is how to use this powerful technology to enhance per- formance, improve decision making, and train future surgeons, which is where the bright future of AI lies. What is artificial intelligence (AI)? AI is often hard to define, but one defi- nition I like is “the development of com- puter algorithms that give machines the ability to reason and perform cognitive functions such as problem-solving and de- cision-making.” In other words, it is mak- NOWADAYS, it is hard to read a paper, watch the news, or walk down the street without hearing a barrage of “AI” discus- sions. In fact, AI has already revolutionized many aspects of our modern lives, jobs, and daily living. Particularly in medicine, there is almost no medical or surgical con- ference that does not have a dedicated ses- sion on the evolving role of AI in medicine and, of course, the ethical dilemma that comes with it, prompting most medical and surgical societies (e.g., the American College of Surgeons) to release consensus statements on the use of AI in medicine. In healthcare, AI is already being im- planted or tested in various fields, such as dictation of patient notes, developing care ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE in Robotic Surgery