At the 2026 Yabulu Forum Annual Meeting held from March 17 to 19 in Yabulu, Heilongjiang, Xie Weiguo, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Shenzhen Weide Precision Medical Technology Co., Ltd., delivered a speech.
When discussing whether surgical procedures will be replaced by robots, Xie Weiguo stated that this is a matter of medical ethics. He believes that artificial intelligence is not intended to replace humans but to give professionals in certain fields an advantage over those who do not use AI.
From a technological development perspective, Xie Weiguo predicts that within the next three to five years, the medical industry may no longer emphasize the complexity of robotic mechanical or process design, as these will become basic capabilities, and prices will become highly competitive. The real differentiation will lie in comparing AI's ability to adapt to specific surgical methods and clinical scenarios.
Xie Weiguo emphasized that this trend is unstoppable. "If we don't pursue it, other companies will; if Chinese companies don't, foreign competitors will. We must follow this path. Moreover, our foundation is stronger than that of our foreign counterparts."
He explained that, similar to fully autonomous Level 5 self-driving technology, while it would be extreme to remove the steering wheel entirely—as Elon Musk has suggested—surgeons must always be able to take control of the procedure. When significant changes occur in the surgical environment, the system should be able to perceive them and make adjustments to achieve the best possible outcome.
"This is the developmental trend that embodied intelligence will inevitably bring to the medical industry—it will certainly reach this level."
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