Legal, regulatory, and ethical frameworks for development of standards in artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous robotic surgery

We classify responsibility into the following: (1) Accountability; (2) Liability; and (3) Culpability. All three aspects were addressed when discussing responsibility for AI and autonomous surgical robots, be these civil or military patients (however, these aspects may require revision in cases where robots become citizens). The component which produces the least clarity is Culpability, since it is unthinkable in the current state of technology. We envision that in the near future a surgical robot can learn and perform routine operative tasks that can then be supervised by a human surgeon. This represents a surgical parallel to autonomously driven vehicles. Here a human remains in the 'driving seat' as a 'doctor-in-the-loop' thereby safeguarding patients undergoing operations that are supported by surgical machines with autonomous capabilities.