The Surgeon’s Automaton: A Most Peculiar Investment

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Right then. Artificial Intelligence. Everyone’s talking about it as if it’s some sort of magical incantation. It isn’t, of course. It’s just very fast counting, coupled with a frankly alarming lack of common sense. It needs data, see? Mountains of it. And if you want to know about the terribly complicated business of rearranging things inside people, well, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG +0.92%) happens to be accumulating rather a lot of that. But it’s not just the data, is it? It’s what they’re doing with it.

What Does This Intuitive Surgical Do, Exactly?

They make the da Vinci surgical robot. A remarkably precise device, if you ignore the fact that it’s named after a man who spent most of his time sketching flying machines and worrying about anatomy. They’ve been at it a while, ending 2025 with over 11,106 of these contraptions installed globally. That’s a 12% increase, which, in the grand scheme of things, is roughly equivalent to adding another small kingdom to the robot’s domain. More importantly, the number of actual surgeries performed by these robots rose 18% year over year. People, it seems, are increasingly willing to let a machine poke around inside them.1

There’s a clear demand, therefore, for both the robots themselves and the, shall we say, assisted surgery. And, at the end of 2025, the FDA approved Intuitive Surgical’s AI-based enhancement to its Ion endoluminal system. Complicated, yes. But the addition of AI helps surgeons make real-time decisions when a patient’s lungs decide to have a wander. Lungs, you see, are perpetually mobile. It’s the breathing thing. A most inconvenient truth for precision surgery, and a boon for those selling robotic assistance.

The Future, As Predicted by a Slightly Cynical Observer

This is merely the opening gambit in the AI revolution, naturally. Since artificial intelligence learns by examining data – and let’s be honest, it’s remarkably good at finding patterns, even the ones that aren’t there2 – Intuitive Surgical’s database of performed surgeries is, to put it mildly, a gold mine. And it grows with every incision, every suture, every carefully manipulated organ.

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The logical conclusion? AI performing surgery entirely on its own. It wouldn’t be a huge leap, not really. Upload the patient’s particulars, and the AI could get to work, performing the appropriate surgery and adjusting as needed, guided by variations in the database. World-class care, available anywhere, at any time. A noble vision, perhaps. Or a terrifying one. It depends on your perspective, and whether you trust a machine with a scalpel.

What Could Intuitive Surgical Do With All That Data?

Ah, the question of ownership. There are options. They could retain the data, naturally, and use it exclusively. A perfectly reasonable approach, if a little…insular. They could sell it, helping to advance AI surgery more broadly. A more altruistic path, though one that risks empowering rivals. Or they could be swallowed up by a technology company that wants the data. The usual story, really. The little fish gets eaten by the bigger fish. It’s the way of things.

All of which brings us to the price of Intuitive Surgical stock. It’s expensive. Very expensive. A price-to-earnings ratio of 66. It’s a gamble, naturally. But for the more aggressive investors, the AI opportunity might just be worth the lofty price tag. Just remember, dear reader, that even the most sophisticated automaton is still just a machine. And machines, as we all know, are prone to unexpected malfunctions.3


1 The human aversion to being prodded by metal objects is deeply ingrained. It stems from a prehistoric incident involving a particularly grumpy badger and a misplaced spear. The details are hazy.
2 AI excels at finding connections where none exist. This is why it’s so good at marketing.
3 A malfunctioning automaton is rarely a pleasant sight. Especially if it’s holding a scalpel.

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2026-01-27 17:32