Position statement from the society of University surgeons, surgical education committee: Artificial intelligence in surgical training for medical students, residents, and fellows

Objective To provide guidance from the Society of University of Surgeons' Surgical Education Committee on the responsible integration of artificial intelligence into surgical training. Methods Members of the Education Committee reviewed current applications of artificial intelligence in surgical training and convened expert discussions to frame opportunities, risks, and implementation strategies. The Committee emphasized narrow artificial intelligence (eg, computer vision, predictive analytics) and generative artificial intelligence (eg, large language models), clarifying their definitions and describing their applications to surgical education. Stakeholder-specific recommendations were developed for accrediting bodies, professional societies, institutions, and individual educators. Results Although artificial intelligence offers the potential to enhance learner engagement, reduce training variability, and improve global access to high-quality education, its integration raises critical challenges related to academic integrity, redefining faculty roles, adapting assessment methods, and ensuring patient safety. This position statement from the Society of University of Surgeons provides a framework for responsibly incorporating artificial intelligence from policy-level decisions and national standard-setting, institutional infrastructure and ethical oversight, down to practical day-to-day mentorship by surgeon educators. We emphasize foundational competencies such as prompt engineering and artificial intelligence literacy, clinical and educational applications, ethical considerations in research, robust skill evaluation methods, institutional accountability, and global equity, particularly in low-resource settings. Conclusion Artificial intelligence has the potential to be a powerful adjunct to surgical education if deployed thoughtfully and ethically. This position statement outlines a phased, stakeholder-specific framework to ensure artificial intelligence complements, rather than replaces the vital educator-learner relationship, while fostering safer, more reflective, and globally connected surgeons.