*Artificial Intelligence in Surgery, Surgical Subspecialties, and Related Disciplines DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112691*

for certain complications, ultimately making surgeries safer for patients [156]. This is addition to many other benefits appreciated across immediately adjacent clinical and nonclinical fields, applications, and implementations. When properly leveraged, the use of AI will help decrease cognitive load and allow surgeons to focus more on other aspects of patient care.

Artificial intelligence may enhance many aspects of patient care in the future, but machines cannot replace the human aspect of medicine. Though AI will allow providers in the future to parse massive data sets and find patterns that would previously have been missed, AI does not diminish the need for human-human interaction and the surgeon-patient relationship [157]. The surgeon-patient relationship is still an essential aspect of care and is still vital in gaining the trust of the patient. Given the complex nature of ML algorithms, patients may not be willing to trust recommendations from AI, especially in the near future. Thus, surgeons will remain instrumental in the care of patients and can serve as advocates for the many uses of AI in the future. Though surgeons in the future may utilize AI to enhance diagnosis, medical management, and surgical procedures, it is critical that they do not solely rely on these algorithms. Reliance solely on AI may lead to the "deskilling" of providers and may lead to missing mistakes made by these algorithms [158].

Finally, while AI/ML may help enhance many other aspects and facets of patient care, it is critically important to remember that it is most likely surgeons will be ultimately responsible for interpreting patterns identified by AI and determining the role of AI in surgery. Therefore, it is vital for surgeons to work with data scientists, machine learning experts, and other healthcare team members to determine how AI can be utilized for optimal patient care. AI has the potential to be a powerful tool, but it will only be as helpful as the surgeons who wield it.
