I would guess the automatic parts will be like a toolkit of tasks which the surgeon can delegate to an algorithm. You could imagine that an algorithm could sew skin together with a level of accuracy to prevent scarring, rejoin nerve and small blood vessels quicker and more accurately, or remove cancerous tissue tagged with a biomarker, while avoiding nerves or important structures nearby.<p>The surgeon could put the surgery into the controlled situation that the algorithm understands, and make some over-arching decisions through a UI (for instance, he could say &#x27;join this nerve on this side to this nerve on the other&#x27;, which might be difficult for the algorithm to work out), and then the algorithm would accomplish that task, and return control back to the surgeon.<p>More simply, a program could prevent a human surgeon using a machine like a Da Vinci from touching a nerve, or define the limits of bone removal.<p>The latter example does already exist in clinical use:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=wGYVhSymNN4&amp;t=3m20s" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=wGYVhSymNN4&amp;t=3m20s</a>