**1. Introduction**

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are rapidly transitioning from "experimental" into the "mainstream adoption" [1–3]. The current pace of progress appears to be accelerating, with an emerging number of potential applications of AI/ML in surgery and its various subspecialties [4]. These programs have shown promise in their capacity to process vast amounts of data, identify multivariate relationships within data, and reduce uncertainty of predictions to enable alternative options to certain tasks [5, 6]. Still, AI has not yet progressed to fully automating tasks due to certain limitations, such as the inability to understand common-sense scenarios, adjust to untrained circumstances, and make intuitive or ethical judgments—all necessary abilities required from a surgeon [7–10]. These complementary strengths suggest that the role of AI may be optimized by collaborating with human intelligence [11]. However, this has not stopped scholarly discussions from imagining what

increasingly practical considerations of AI might look like in the future, including concepts such as "autonomous actions in surgery" [12].

In this chapter, we will explore current and potential future applications of AI/ML in the sphere of surgery, surgical subspecialties, and related disciplines of medicine. Each section of this chapter will outline specific aspects where we believe AI may play a role within the context of surgical care delivery.
