In this episode, we unpack how surgical robots reshape knowledge, agency, and ownership in the operating room, based on interviews with surgeons, nurses, and technicians. We reveal why professionals insist robots are just “tools”—a political move to keep human control and hierarchy—and how this can lead to strategic ignorance, avoiding learning the robot’s full capabilities. We explore avatarization, where surgeons feel the robot as an extension of their body, boosting precision but risking overtrust. We discuss the tension between psychological ownership by surgical teams and economic ownership by hospitals or tech firms, as well as skepticism toward fully autonomous robots versus optimism for using robotics to expand access to quality care. Finally, we highlight barriers like high costs and tech dependency that threaten equitable adoption. Tune in to discover how surgical robotics challenges our ideas of expertise, responsibility, and fairness in healthcare.

This podcast is based on the following article:

Merdin-Uygur, E., Ozturkcan, S., Özbilgin, M.F., Yilmaz, F., & Ince, Ö. (2025). Human–robot collaboration in surgery at the nexus of knowledge, agency, and ownership. Scientific Reports, 15, 23642. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08437-w