Robotic-assisted surgery isn’t just a futuristic concept, it’s already mainstream for procedures that demand precision and minimal invasiveness. These approaches reduce complications, shorten recovery times, and improve patient outcomes. In fact, by 2019¹, 87% of prostatectomies^[a] in the US were robot-assisted, most using the da Vinci system, which also offers enhanced 3D imaging for surgeons.

And it’s not just urologists. Cardiac surgery uses robotics for valve repairs and bypasses, where millimetre precision matters. Orthopaedics employs robotic systems for joint replacements, improving alignment and reducing revision rates. Gynaecology and general surgery also benefit from robotic platforms for hysterectomies and complex abdominal procedures. Across specialties, the common thread is better accuracy, smaller incisions, and faster recovery.

Annual global usage was over 2.6 million operations in 2024. The scale is growing rapidly. In the UK the NHS plans to scale up robotic assisted usage and projects half a million annual operations (9 in 10 keyhole surgeries) by 2035 compared with 70,000 (1 in 5 keyhole surgeries) currently². Whilst impressive, the emphasis here is on robots assisting with procedures, not controlling them, i.e. the robot only moves when the surgeon directs it.

But why stop there? Could we not replace the surgeon altogether? A recent paper documents the successful autonomous removal of a gall bladder from (already dead) pig organs by AI trained robots at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore³. The training included learning from video footage of human surgeons. The operation took around five minutes, with 17 steps including cutting the gallbladder away from its connection to the liver, applying 6 clips sequentially and removing the organ. The robots were able to correct course and adapt autonomously. That the patient didn’t move or bleed possibly helped!

Why does this matter for insurance?

• Lower complication rates mean fewer claims for post-surgical infections, readmissions, and long-term disability.
• Shorter recovery times could reduce income protection payouts and accelerate return-to-work timelines.
• Broader access to complex surgeries may improve survival for high-risk conditions like cardiac disease and cancer, shifting mortality assumptions.
• Cost dynamics matter too: while robotic procedures are expensive upfront, they may lower lifetime healthcare costs—something that will need to be modelled carefully.

This is clearly an exciting step forward for AI assisted technology. In the short term, assisted robotics will dominate, especially for early-stage cancer surgeries where precision reduces recurrence risk. Longer term, autonomy could make complex procedures safer, faster, and globally accessible, reshaping health outcomes and risk models.

Challenges remain, not least: regulation, training for both surgeons and robots, associated costs and, perhaps most importantly, patient trust. But the trajectory is clear - robotics and AI are redefining surgery, and our projections for health and mortality trends will need to keep pace.

References:

[a] a surgical procedure to remove the prostate gland, performed by urologists to treat prostate cancer or an enlarged prostate

1 Surgical Robotics Statistics and Facts (2025)

2 NHS England » Millions to benefit from NHS robot drive

3 SRT-H: A hierarchical framework for autonomous surgery via language-conditioned imitation learning | Science Robotics