In the last thirty years, hair transplantation has transformed from a niche aesthetic procedure into a global industry. Turkey holds an important position in this field. However, the next decade appears to be a period where radical changes will occur in the sector. Innovations such as robotic surgery, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence raise the question: will they threaten the traditional concept of “manual craftsmanship and experience” in this field, or will they carry it to a new level?
The next ten years: the biotechnology revolution and the donor problem
The biggest limitation of current hair transplantation technology is that the hair in the donor area (nape and side regions) is limited and sometimes insufficient. The most critical expectation over the next ten years is for “Hair Cloning” (Hair Multiplication) and stem cell treatments to become actively usable and accessible. If biotechnology succeeds in producing unlimited grafts, hair transplantation will transform from “transferring existing hair to another area” into “hair production and hair design.”
Where do robot technologies stand in this art?
Hair transplantation has, until today, been considered a matter of aesthetic vision and experience. As a surgery within aesthetic medicine, hair transplantation required the surgeon to sense the tissue and ensure an aesthetic integrity by knowing the person’s proportions, facial and cranial structures, and expectations. So, where do the robotic technologies, which are currently being adapted into the system through recent developments, stand in this art?
Robotic systems promise to provide a major advantage in graft harvesting, site-making, and skin analysis. While such technologies—aiming to effortlessly harvest thousands of grafts without error, perform site-making, and ensure through specific mathematical processing that natural hairs are not damaged—excite many with the innovations they will bring to the sector, experts emphasize that the human touch and activity remain critical in situations requiring instant decision-making, such as tissue resistance, bleeding control, and the protection of existing hair, and underscore that robotic systems are still very new in terms of addressing these concerns. In summary, the robot will be the follower, and the one making the actual sound decisions will still be a human.
Can artificial intelligence increase efficiency in hair transplantation?
Artificial intelligence, situated at the other end of the debates, can increase efficiency in hair transplantation; however, it also carries the risk of uniformizing the sector. AI operates according to a specific “ideal” algorithm and can standardize everyone with the same “relatively perfect” or “catalog-like” hairlines and models. This situation can erase facial characteristics and personal expression. In this context, the greatest risk in the sector is that everyone will have hairlines that look like they came out of a factory, resembling one another.
Hairline design is both a technical and an artistic process. Creating a design that suits the facial features, the natural structure of the hair, and the individual’s style requires both technical knowledge and an artistic perspective.
Drawing a hairline suitable for a patient’s face is like using Leonardo da Vinci’s “Golden Ratio”; it requires technical knowledge, but for an artistic interpretation, it is essential to know the individual, give meaning to their desires, and incorporate them into the result.
Artificial intelligence can suggest an ideal template by analyzing thousands of successful results. However, it may struggle to interpret abstract data such as the patient’s age, ethnicity, forehead muscle structure, and even character, or it may direct them toward a specific mold.
No robot will be able to surpass human sensitivity.
According to experts’ predictions, artificial intelligence will, of course, play an active role in the process in the future and offer various draft suggestions to experts, but the final decision will still be made by the expert themselves. Because aesthetics should not be about perfection, but rather the harmony of natural imperfections. A standard line created by robots is the look furthest from naturalness. In these delicate procedures, no robot will be able to surpass human sensitivity.
What patients should trust is not the machine, but the experience and vision of the specialist managing that machine. When patients hear the phrase “Robotic Hair Transplantation,” they imagine a flawless and painless procedure. This management of perception is a powerful marketing weapon. In reality, with current technology, robots are not fully autonomous; they are advanced assistants used by specialists. In unskilled hands, a robot can turn into a machine that merely “increases the speed of making mistakes.” What patients should trust is not the machine, but the experience and vision of the specialist managing that machine
