[Robotic autonomous surgery in gastrointestinal practice: a viable pathway or an aspirational vision in the...

The deep integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and multimodal data in the medical field presents vast application prospects, with its implementation in robotic surgery still in the early stages. Surgical robots assist surgeons in decision-making and operation through quantifiable data and visualized imaging, where data serves as the key driver of innovation for AI in robotic surgery. AI is pushing the boundaries of robotic autonomy, enhancing the surgical experience and improving both the quality and efficiency of procedures. This paper focuses on artificial intelligence surgery, especially the key applications of AI in robotic gastrointestinal surgery, systematically reviewing recent advances in surgical scene enhancement, surgical phase recognition, instrument tracking, intraoperative force feedback, and autonomous manipulation. Furthermore, it discusses major challenges including the scarcity of high-quality data, limited interpretability of algorithms, and the need for real-time performance. Although fully autonomous robotic surgery remains a long-term goal, the pathway toward progressive implementation is becoming increasingly clear.