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This multinational survey assessed self-reported AI\/LLM use, perceived benefits, and requirements for routine implementation among general surgeons in German-speaking countries.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Between June and September 2025, a 16-item online survey was conducted among general surgeons at university hospitals in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Of 3831 invited surgeons, 323 complete responses were analyzed (response rate 8.7%). Self-reported AI use was frequent: 58.5% reported occasional and 28.2% regular use. The most frequent applications were speech recognition (65.3%) and chatbots (62.8%). Anticipated benefits focused on documentation simplification (94.4%), reduced administrative time (84.2%) as well as burden (83.0%), and improved diagnostic accuracy (70.6%). ChatGPT was the leading chatbot (89.8%), chatbot use was rated helpful (69.6%), and the most common use case was scientific writing (51.4%). Key barriers to routine AI adoption were insufficient integration into existing systems (77.1%), legal\/data-protection uncertainty (65.9%), and lack of validated applications (59.1%). The most important requirements were system reliability (76.2%), a clear legal framework (72.1%), improved technical infrastructure (68.4%), and transparency (58.5%). Most respondents expected AI to improve surgical care quality (82.4%) and endorsed structured AI training (85.1%).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The use of AI and LLM-based chatbots was commonly reported among general surgeons in German-speaking countries, primarily for low-threshold, efficiency-oriented tasks such as speech recognition, documentation, scientific writing, and other text-based productivity. Broader integration into surgical workflow will require interoperable implementation, validated clinical-grade applications, legal clarity, and structured education.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1007\/s00464-026-13044-5","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,1]],"date-time":"2026-07-01T21:10:29Z","timestamp":1782940229000},"page":"7473-7483","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Artificial intelligence and chatbots in general surgery: a survey among surgeons in Germany, Austria and Switzerland"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"40","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7611-1802","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sebastian","family":"L\u00fcnse","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eric L.","family":"Wisotzky","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3600-3652","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lasse","family":"Renz-Kiefel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3104-8288","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christoph","family":"Paasch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4991-9275","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Richard","family":"Hunger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5590-6019","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ren\u00e9","family":"Mantke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,1]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"13044_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2101","DOI":"10.1097\/JS9.0000000000002159","volume":"111","author":"H Li","year":"2025","unstructured":"Li H, Han Z, Wu H, Musaev ER, Lin Y, Li S et al (2025) Artificial intelligence in surgery: evolution, trends, and future directions. 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