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posted by martyb on Friday August 20 2021, @08:57PM   Printer-friendly
from the how-fast-can-it-run-on-the-Moon-or-Mars? dept.

Elon Musk Reveals Plans to Unleash a Humanoid Tesla Bot

Elon Musk reveals plans to unleash a humanoid Tesla Bot:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk ended a deeply technical AI Day event [(3h3m21s)] with a head-turning announcement: a humanoid robot.

After a dancing human dressed as a robot moved off stage at Thursday's invitation-only event in Palo Alto, California, Musk introduced Tesla Bot. It will be based on Tesla's Autopilot system and is essentially a humanoid form of the car. Musk considers the electric vehicles "fully sentient robots on wheels." So might as well make it a human-like bot!

The bot looks like a human with two arms (and two hands with five fingers) and two legs. It'll stand at 5 feet 8 inches and weigh 125 pounds. It can only run 5 mph, which Musk assured was slow enough for most people to escape if something goes wrong: "If you can run faster than that it’ll be fine."

Most importantly, Musk said it would be friendly ("of course") and operate dangerous, repetitive, and boring tasks as it "navigates a world built for humans."

Musk repeated that the humanoid would have a screen on its head and eight cameras, like on Tesla cars that can drive with assistance from Autopilot. "It's all the same tools we see in the car," he said.

Elon Musk Reveals Tesla Bot, a Humanoid Robot Utilizing Tesla's Vehicle AI

The story continues at c|net:

Elon Musk reveals Tesla Bot, a humanoid robot utilizing Tesla's vehicle AI:

Three slides detailed the robot's proposed specifications and Musk made sure he pointed out you could both outrun the Tesla Bot and "overpower" it. He has, in the past, rallied against the use of robots as weapons and warned of the risks AI might pose -- once calling it the "biggest risk we face as a civilization." I guess if they're your incredibly slow, easy-to-overpower robots, the dangers are reduced.

One particular slide said they would eliminate "dangerous, repititive, boring tasks" and Musk provided an example suggesting the robot could be told to "go to the store and get ... the following groceries."

A prototype would likely be ready next year, he said.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 20 2021, @10:58PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 20 2021, @10:58PM (#1169086)

    fully sentient robots on wheels

    i can't even

    The damned thing can't even pass a road test, much less a Turing test. As anybody who's ever held a CDL knows, there are no such things as accidents and all collisions are preventable, but this supposedly "sentient" lane guidance system plows right into anything in its path!

    The Musky One should stick to rocketry. He seems to understand those problems better, and I'm confident he will enable the colonization of Mars.

    Just don't let him design the EVA rovers.

  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 20 2021, @11:08PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 20 2021, @11:08PM (#1169092) Journal

    plows right into anything in its path!

    Actually, they seem to be more discriminating than you suggest. Police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances, 18-wheelers, and an occasional bicycle seems to satisfy Tesla's dietary needs.

    --
    “I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 21 2021, @12:34AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 21 2021, @12:34AM (#1169125)

    If algorithms were sentient, then remote operators of automated warfare capabilities would be able to evade guilt and criminal prosecution for war crimes.