The Five Questions Every Surgeon Should Ask About Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being integrated into clinical practice at a pace that has outstripped clinicians' ability to critically evaluate it. While 2 in 3 physicians now report using AI in some capacity in their practice, most trainees receive no formal education in AI. The result is not a deficit in intelligence or curiosity, but, at least in part, a lack of shared vocabulary that limits clinicians' ability to interpret AI claims and participate in governance decisions. This paper presents a practical clinical framework for interrogating AI claims, organized around five core questions: What is it? Does it work? Will it work here? What does it do? Is it real? These domains provide a structured approach applicable across clinical encounters, including literature appraisal, vendor evaluation, and point-of-care use. To support this framework, we define 6 vocabulary clusters commonly encountered in clinical AI discourse and introduce a translation layer that maps AI terminology to familiar traditional clinical and biological concepts. Finally, we illustrate the framework through representative real-world scenarios. This approach enables clinicians to critically evaluate AI tools, engage meaningfully in institutional decision-making, and apply consistent standards of evidence to emerging technologies.