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