Nov 13, 2024
A surgical AI-powered and trained robot, armed with nothing but
hours of video footage, learned to perform complex medical
procedures with the precision of a seasoned surgeon. No hands-on
training, no step-by-step programming—just pure observation. Sound
familiar? It should, because that’s the future for us lawyers.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University just pulled off something
remarkable. They trained a robot to master surgery, not by holding
its “hand” through the motions, but by letting it watch. This
machine, the da Vinci Surgical System, absorbed and replicated
critical tasks—needle manipulation, tissue lifting, suturing—all at
a skill level equal to human surgeons. Let that sink in.
Here’s how it works: the team fed the robot hundreds of videos from
da Vinci’s own wrist cameras, essentially teaching it to “speak”
the language of surgery through math and movement. We’re talking
ChatGPT meets kinematics—a language of skill and technique
distilled down to pure, actionable data. The kicker? The robot even
started catching and correcting mistakes on its own, like picking
up a dropped needle—something it was never programmed to do. It’s
adaptability in action, and it’s mind-blowing.
Now, here’s where we need to pay attention. AI systems like
Google’s AI Studio aren’t just for the operating room. They’ll
watch and listen to lawyers too. These systems will study the
arguments, presentation styles, even the pauses and tones that
seasoned trial lawyers use. They'll dissect every move, every
phrase, every nuance. And just like that robot learning to suture,
these systems will be able to craft legal arguments and perform in
courtrooms with an accuracy and finesse that we’re only just
beginning to imagine. We’re already using Google AI Studio to
evaluate our presentations and I wrote about it in an earlier post
here in the group.
So, don’t shoot the messenger. As these AI “assistants” become
sharper, faster, and more perceptive, we’ll need to bring our
A-game—because now, we’re competing with machines that don’t just
learn the law; they learn from us, down to the last word, the last
breath.
See the full article here and video here
https://hub.jhu.edu/2024/11/11/surgery-robots-trained-with-videos/
Listen to past podcast episodes here https://mitch-jackson.com/podcast