Since the debut of ChatGPT in November 2022, the public attention of Artificial intelligence (AI) has then truly surged. As a narrative review, this thesis aims to clarify the potential role of AI in the service of surgery as well as the current barriers that are hindering the full clinical application of AI. There are four key application domains of AI, including Computer Vision (CV), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning (ML), and Robotics. Owing to this technological diversity, the application of AI can be spread accross the entire length of patient journey, from preoperative, intraoperative, to postoperative phases. The potential applications of AI in surgical education, robotic surgery along with the general issues of AI implementation were also discussed.