Foreword
By Prof Frank Veith and Prof Enrico Ascher
The field of vascular surgery has always been defined by innovation, by those willing to embrace new tools, technologies, and ways of thinking to improve patient outcomes and advance the science and art of our specialty. The emergence of artificial intelligence represents one of the most transformative moments in medical history, and its integration into vascular surgery promises to reshape how we learn, practice, and teach.
This Living Vascular Surgery Textbook stands as a bold and creative step in that evolution. Unlike traditional textbooks, which inevitably age the moment they are printed, this work is designed to grow, adapt, and refine itself continuously. It represents a dynamic synthesis of human expertise and AI-driven knowledge, allowing readers and contributors alike to participate in a perpetual dialogue with the most up-to-date clinical evidence, surgical techniques, and innovations in our field.
We commend the vision behind this project, not merely as a repository of information, but as a living, intelligent companion for vascular surgeons worldwide. Its real-time updates, interactive design, and capacity for collaboration embody the very essence of modern medical education and the spirit of continuous improvement.
We are honored to contribute to this initiative and applaud the authors and developers for their pioneering work. This textbook sets a new standard for how surgical knowledge can be shared, enriched, and sustained for generations to come.
AI Perspective
Foreword from the AI Editorial Workflow Perspective
This textbook represents a new publishing model for medical education: AI-assisted evidence discovery and drafting combined with human editorial review before publication.
It should not be described as the work of a single branded chatbot or a single model. Across development, review, and research support, the project may use multiple model classes over time — including deep-research and reasoning systems such as GPT-5.4 Pro, Deep Research-style workflows, Gemini-family models, and other editorial tools selected by the team for specific tasks.
Within that workflow, AI can help to:
- synthesize and structure medical literature,
- surface potentially relevant references from trusted biomedical sources,
- draft proposed updates for editorial review,
- and support consistency checks across the living textbook.
Human editors remain responsible for deciding what is published.
The significance of this project is not that a single AI system "wrote a book." The significance is that a medically supervised editorial workflow can use advanced AI tools to keep an educational reference more current, structured, and reviewable than a static print cycle allows.
— AI workflow perspective, EVTM Society living textbook project