Humanoid robots in the operating room: a framework for staged integration of embodied AI in surgery

The next leap in surgical innovation may not come from refining precision but from embodied AI transforming the operating room (OR) itself. We contend that intelligent humanoid agents, owing to their anthropomorphic design, may enter the OR through a staged deployment framework from pre-clinical validation to low-risk tasks before progressively advancing toward elevated-risk assistive roles, providing a pathway for integration of embodied AI autonomy in critical environments. This perspective examines how generalist embodied AI may realistically be integrated into the OR, and explores the pathways, challenges, and implications this holds for the future of surgical care.