A British man has become the first patient to have brain surgery guided by live artificial intelligence. The operation saved his sight. Rhys Hibbert, 48, from Bedfordshire, had an 11-millimetre tumour on his pituitary gland. The tumour was not cancerous, but it was pressing on nerves linked to his vision. Without surgery, he could have gone blind. The operation took place in May at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, part of University College London Hospitals. Details were released publicly this month. During the surgery, an AI system developed at the UCL Hawkes Institute watched the live surgical video feed. It highlighted critical nerves and blood vessels at the base of the brain in real time, helping the team avoid them while removing the tumour. The pituitary region is one of the most crowded areas of the brain. The gland, major blood vessels and vision nerves sit within millimetres of each other. A slip of one millimetre can cause blindness, stroke or death. The AI controlled nothing. Surgeons stayed fully in charge. The system gave them extra information, like a second set of eyes. Hibbert woke with dramatically improved vision and was walking within a week.