There’s been a lot of headlines in recent times about how machines will one day replace humans in a multitude of jobs, from automated transport to even automated journalism (gulp). While some of us have more to worry about than others, it seems reasonable to assume that exceedingly specialised work – such as medical care, for instance – might be a bit more sheltered from the coming robo-revolution.
But perhaps not. Scientists in the US have developed an autonomous surgical robot designed specifically to suture – or stitch up – soft tissue. And in testing, this surgical machine – which, it should be emphasised, operates entirely independently of human control – outperformed experienced human surgeons when operating on pig specimens.
From our very good friends over at sciencealert.com