Ethics and Policy Challenges in Applying Artificial Intelligence in Medicine.

Artificial intelligence (AI) holds significant promise as a diagnostic and therapeutic adjunct, and it is being rapidly employed in health care. Implementation, however, has been fraught with ethical challenges, with several unique to the field of surgery. Here, the authors provide an introduction to surgical ethics, summarize current policy surrounding health AI, and discuss the ethical and policy challenges of implementing AI in surgery. As the field of AI continues to expand and permeate surgical practice, an understanding of these challenges and core ethical principles is imperative for the safe and effective implementation of these tools.