More On: Tesla robot
Elon Musk shows off the Tesla robot and says it will do 'boring' tasks by the end of the year
Elon Musk has shared more information about the artificial intelligence robots that his company is making for the future. These details paint a vivid picture of what life on Earth will be like for Tesla customers in the coming decades.
Musk's Tesla Bot is about 5 feet 8 inches tall. Its goal is to gradually take "boring" tasks away from humans who are brave enough to let a robot join their family.
The richest person in the world has said in the past that people need to be ready to merge with artificial intelligence. He said that our future will depend on accepting one simple fact: "If you can't beat it, join it."
His creepy Tesla Bot prototypes are supposed to take care of everything from cooking to cleaning to general maintenance. They will be a common thing in most homes.
Musk is known for making crazy predictions about when his technology will come out. For example, he has been pushing back the date when Tesla's self-driving cars will fully replace human drivers for years.
But since we were still sending faxes and typing on old Nokia number pads just 20 years ago, the fact that fully autonomous butler-bots will be available in 2022 is a clear sign that humanity is moving at a rate we can't keep up with.
“Tesla Bots are initially positioned to replace people in repetitive, boring, and dangerous tasks. But the vision is for them to serve millions of households, such as cooking, mowing lawns, and caring for the elderly,” Musk wrote in an essay published in China Cyberspace magazine.
Musk said that in 2021, the robot, which has the code name "Optimus," will use the same chips and sensors as Tesla's "Autopilot" software, which has been closely watched by politicians and government regulators.
Musk said that the robot will be able to carry 45 pounds and lift 150 pounds. It will also be able to run 5 miles (8 km) per hour. He said that the machine would be made so that people could easily get away from it and beat it.
“Achieving this goal requires that robots evolve to be smart enough and for us to have the ability to mass produce robots,” Musk continued.
“Our ‘four-wheeled robots’ – cars – have changed the way people travel and even live. One day when we solve the problem of self-driving cars (i.e., real-world artificial intelligence), we will be able to extend artificial intelligence technology to humanoid robots, which will have a much broader application than cars.”
Musk said a key feature of artificial intelligence is that it will “learn” and adapt at alarming speeds. In the past, he has likened the eventual power of an all-encompassing AI as something similar to a “god”.
He said the Tesla Bot prototype should be ready by the end of the year providing his company can handle large-scale production.
“We plan to launch the first prototype of a humanoid robot this year and focus on improving the intelligence of that robot and solving the problem of large-scale production,” he said.
“Thereafter, humanoid robots’ usefulness will increase yearly as production scales up and costs fall. In the future, a home robot may be cheaper than a car. Perhaps in less than a decade, people will be able to buy a robot for their parents as a birthday gift.
“It is foreseeable that with the power of robots, we will create an era of extreme abundance of goods and services, where everyone can live a life of abundance. Perhaps the only scarcity that will exist in the future is for us to create ourselves as humans.”
