[Big data and artificial intelligence in anesthesia : Reality or fiction?]

Big data and artificial intelligence are buzzwords that everyone is talking about and yet always provide a touch of science fiction to the scenery. What is the status of these topics in anesthesia? Are the first robots already rolling through the corridors while doctors are getting bored as all the work has been done? Spoiler alert! We are still far away from achieving this. Initially, paper charts and analogue notes stand in the way of comprehensive digitization. Source systems need to be merged and data standardized, harmonized and validated. Therefore, the friendly android that is rolling towards us, waving and holding a freshly brewed cup of coffee in our thoughts will have to wait; however, a glimpse of the future is already evident in some clinics and the first promising developments are already showing what could be the standard tomorrow. Learning algorithms calculate the length of stay individually for each patient in the intensive care unit (ICU), reducing negative consequences such as readmission and mortality. The field of ultrasound technology for regional anesthesia and closed-loop anesthesia systems is also demonstrating the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted technologies in practice. The efforts are diverse and ambitious but they repeatedly collide with privacy challenges and significant capital expenditure, which weigh heavily on an already financially strained healthcare system; however, anyone who listens carefully to the medical staff knows that robots are not what they would expect and the buzzwords big data and artificial intelligence might be less science fiction than initially assumed.