Humanity’s relationship with computers is dramatically changing, but the societal and economic impact remains unclear.

This article is more than 2 years old.

December 4, 2016 This article is more than 2 years old.

Robots are increasingly common in surgical procedures. But surgical robots are often very large, with long, inflexible instruments that make them expensive and impractical for smaller practices. The creators of Axsis, a new surgical robot designed to perform cataract surgery, say it’s the first of a new generation of sleeker, cheaper medical robots.

Axsis has tiny, flexible, worm-like arms. It’s controlled with joysticks that provide tactile feedback, and it has an internal algorihmic autopilot that, in theory, keeps the surgeon who’s piloting it from making dumb mistakes.

Watch the video above to see Axsis in action.