From Bill Gates awkwardly dancing on stage while launching Windows 95 in the 90s, we came a long way to watch Steve Jobs thrill tech geeks at iPhone launch events. Among CEOs known for their onstage and social media presence, Elon Musk is known for his ambitious announcements as well as spectacular fails. After images of Tesla’s supposedly tough Cybertruck’s smashed window went viral, the billionaire came back in 2020 to unveil a pig with a chip in its brain on stage.
Having successfully demonstrated the brain-to-machine mechanism, Musk has finally revealed a humanoid robot named Optimus, which was announced last year. The robot is built for moving around goods in factories or warehouses and can also assemble cars by attaching bolts. As Optimus walked onto the stage, it probably gave sci-fi fans and comic book geeks to draw more comparisons between Musk and Marvel character Tony Stark.
What’s in store for the autobot?
Although Optimus is just a prototype, Musk aims to build a useful humanoid soon, which will perform both mundane and high-risk tasks. As opposed to the idea that robots and AI could replace human beings, many in the industry see automation via robots as a way to enable human beings to perform more productive tasks. For instance, earlier estimates have predicted that robots will significantly reduce lead time and make operations more productive, hence cutting down costs by more than 20 per cent.
According to Musk, robots will soon become capable of cooking dinner and performing tasks at home, before they develop the emotional intelligence to become friends or even partners for human beings. Optimus isn’t the first humanoid to create a buzz, as the robot Sophia, who was granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia, has also managed to create artworks. Another robotic artist Ai-DA was detained in Egypt last year, over suspicion of espionage ahead of her show at the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Is it really as good as they claim?
But there are also concerns about Musk’s latest innovation, as experts suggest that robots doing simple tasks aren’t good enough. Nancy Cooke of Arizona State University said in a report by VOA that making a robot walk or dance has been done before. The challenge will be to prepare robots for unexpected situations if they are to be as able as human beings. The Tesla bot which walked for the first time without tethers at the AI Day event has a long way to go to achieve those capabilities.
Missed opportunities and delays
Although Musk is known for talking about innovative ideas, it’s often someone else that actually creates them. One such example is the high-speed Hyperloop transportation system, which gained traction when Musk mentioned it in 2012. But eventually, it was Virgin Hyperloop that worked on the design to test the first passenger pod in 2020.
Musk has also missed deadlines to launch a fully autonomous car, and used the platform to update the audience that a self-driving Tesla without a steering wheel or paddle will hit the road in 2024. At the same time Tesla’s foray into a major market such as India has been delayed since the government won’t reduce import duty as per Musk’s requests.
