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Frigerio et al. Art Int Surg 2023;3:160-2 Artificial
DOI: 10.20517/ais.2023.22
Intelligence Surgery

Editorial Open Access

Artificial intelligence for equity

1
Isabella Frigerio , Niki Rashidian 2
1
Department of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery, Pederzoli Hospital, Peschiera 37019, Italy.
2
Department of General, HPB Surgery & Liver Transplantation, Ghent University Hospital, Gent 109000, Belgium.
Correspondence to: Dr. Isabella Frigerio, Department of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery, Pederzoli Hospital, Via Monte Baldo,
24, Peschiera del Garda, Peschiera 37019, Italy. E-mail: isifrigerio@yahoo.com

How to cite this article: Frigerio I, Rashidian N. Artificial intelligence for equity. Art Int Surg 2023;3:160-2.
https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/ais.2023.22

Received: 15 Jun 2023 Accepted: 5 Jul 2023 Published: 9 Aug 2023

Academic Editor: Gudrun Aspelund Copy Editor: Dong-Li Li Production Editor: Dong-Li Li

In this Special Issue, several relevant topics concerning the perceived obstacles faced by female surgeons in
pursuing a surgical career have been addressed, with a particular focus on the role of technology and AI as
new tools to reduce gender disparities. Given that the applications of AI solutions to address gender biases
in healthcare is a relatively recent development, there are not many papers available in the literature. Yet,
the authors have made great efforts to identify potential applications of AI in eliminating gender-based
discrimination in surgery, an area that has already been extensively investigated.

As reported by Dr. Capelli and colleagues in “Women surgeons fighting for work-life balance: how
technology might help close the gender gap” , flexible work hours, implementation of childcare facilities,
[1]
encouragement of paternity leave for surgeons, and enforcement of mentorship for female surgeons are
among the possible solutions to overcome gender stereotypes in surgery that still negatively affect surgeons
at all career levels.

In “The potential of artificial intelligence as an equalizer of gender disparity in surgical training and
education” , Dr. Mari et al. demonstrate how technology can help overcome the barriers that women face
[2]
during surgical education and training. They highlight that AI-driven selection processes or evaluations of
surgical performance may assist in equalizing opportunities for surgeons regardless of gender. Technologies
such as virtual and augmented reality, remote mentoring, and simulators have the potential to support
female surgeons and positively influence women’s decisions to pursue a surgical career.

© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
indicate if changes were made.

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