Multi-billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced the development of a humanoid robot. A prototype is expected to be available in the coming year, Musk said on Thursday on his company’s AI Day – a day dedicated to artificial intelligence. “It should be naturally friendly, able to navigate a world built for humans, and eliminate dangerous, repetitive, and boring work,” said Musk. The robot will also be designed in such a way that it is not particularly fast. “You will be able to run away from him.”
According to Musk, the Tesla robot will be around 1.77 meters tall and weigh 57 kilograms. “It has some kind of screen on the head for useful information, but otherwise it is basically equipped with an autopilot system,” said the entrepreneur.
The Tesla robot will be equipped with eight cameras and a fully-fledged self-driving computer and use the same tools that Tesla uses in the car. “The hardest thing about a useful humanoid robot is that it can’t navigate the world without being properly trained.” But that has to work line by line without explicit instructions. “You can talk to him and say, ‘Please take this screw and use the wrench to attach it to the car,’ and he should be able to do that.”
The use of human robots will have far-reaching consequences, Musk predicted. “In the future, physical work will be an option. If you want to do it, you can do it, but you don’t have to do it.” Obviously, this has profound economic implications, because if you consider that the economy at its most basic level is made up of work, then there may no longer be any real limits to the economy.
Tesla is known for announcing major technical innovations at a very early stage of development and for bringing systems live that are not yet considered market-ready by other companies.
This also applies to the self-drive option in Tesla’s “Autopilot” driver assistance system, which has come under fire after a series of rear-end collisions. It is criticized that the name “autopilot” is an exaggeration that invites negligent use. Tesla even calls the next stage of the program “Full Self-Driving”, although according to the criteria common in the industry it remains just an assistance system.
Shareholders were rather unimpressed by the plans on Friday. Tesla’s shares were only slightly up in European trading.