According to a report from the Financial Association on April 28 (Editor: Zhou Ziyi), Elon Musk's latest Post predicts that robots will surpass the best human surgeons within five years.

In a response to Technology commentator Mario Nawfal's post promoting robotic operating rooms on the Social Media platform X, Musk wrote, "Robots will surpass excellent human surgeons in a few years and will surpass the best human surgeons in about 5 years."

Musk also mentioned his Brain-computer Interface company Neuralink in the reply, adding, "Neuralink will have to use robots for electrode insertion into the brain, as human doctors cannot achieve the required speed and precision."

Doubts

However, Musk's statement has sparked waves of skepticism, with many questioning the feasibility of this prediction.

Some users directly challenged Musk, stating, "On one hand, you promote higher population growth, while on the other hand, you plan to replace everyone's jobs with robots. What does this mean for you?"

Other users questioned Musk's claim that "robots can completely replace human surgeons," arguing that current surgical robots are still advanced tools controlled by approved surgeons, rather than autonomous robots, and stated, "This is just AI hype."

A surgeon with experience in robot-assisted surgery has also joined the debate, claiming that Musk's statements are completely "misleading". He pointed out that "surgeons operate using robots as complex tools through a console, not the robots (themselves) performing the surgery... it (the robot) is a great tool, but not a surgeon."

R1 Robot

Neuralink is a brain neurology technology company founded by Musk in 2016, focusing on the research and development of Brain-computer Interface technology. Its core product, the N1 chip, is a device that can be implanted in the brain, aimed at achieving "interaction between the human brain and machines."

In 2024, Neuralink implanted the coin-sized N1 chip into a human brain for the first time, operated by the R1 robot. According to an earlier public demonstration by Neuralink, the R1 robot inserted 64 hair-thin wires into the cerebral cortex with micro-level precision through blood vessels in about 15 minutes.

Trial results show that the first implanted patient is already able to play video games through thought, browse the Internet, Post on Social Media, and move the cursor on a laptop, marking this progress as undoubtedly successful.

Currently, the R1 robot continues to be an important part of Neuralink's first human clinical trial, PRIME. This trial mainly evaluates the performance of a series of Neuralink Brain-computer Interface devices on humans.

In addition to the successful implantation surgeries of human brain devices by Neuralink, there are many successful trials and studies supporting Musk's latest prediction that "robots will replace surgeons."

For example, recently, Johns Hopkins University's intelligent autonomous robot sutured pig intestines with ultra-high accuracy, achieving precision that can match or exceed that of experienced surgeons; a study published in the January issue of the journal Surgical Endoscopy found that robots can reduce complications in complex liver surgeries compared to open surgery.

In addition, semi-autonomous robotic platforms for surgery are also being developed. Intuitive Surgical stated that its surgeon-controlled da Vinci system has recorded nearly 17 million surgeries worldwide. Peer-reviewed analysis reports indicate that algorithm-guided suturing and screw placement currently outperform the human average in terms of accuracy and consistency.

Editor/rice