Elon Musk to debut "friendly" robot he says will not overpower humans

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/30/elon-musk-tesla-bot/

No paywall
https://archive.ph/0RSYz

SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk wants to solve one of the toughest problems in robotics and artificial intelligence: how to make a machine that can replace a human.

For years, companies including Amazon and Google have worked to create robots that are able to move and — in a feat that is deceptively challenging — pick up or work on items with mechanized claws or hands.

That holy grail of tech, which would allow companies to replace human workers with inexhaustible robots, hasn’t been achieved. But Tesla CEO Musk has said he may demonstrate the company’s version, dubbed Optimus, at an AI event held by the company Friday evening.

Last year at the same event, Musk announced the robot. He said the cyborg would be uncombative, standing roughly 5-foot-8: “It’s intended to be friendly, of course.” It would be designed to help with repetitive, menial tasks — and usher in a future where physical work would be a choice.

Critically, Musk said, a person could “run away from it and most likely overpower it.”

*snip*


We're entering the Skynet timeline

[ColinC]

1. "most likely"

So... There's doubt?

[CentralMass]

2. What could gi wrong?

[Nevilledog]

26. From the look of this rollout, were not in any immediate danger..😂

Link to tweet

P.S. The tweeter is being sarcastic.

[catbyte]

3. Oh, great. Something else to worry about.

I think I watched "The Terminator" one too many times.

[SergeStorms]

4. If you can't trust Elon Musk....

awwww....c'mon, you know you can't trust Elon Musk!

[underpants]

5. Old Glory Insurance

[jmowreader]

25. That "friendly robot" looks familiar

Wasn’t that Grovelbot?

[underpants]

31. Yes. I hadn't noticed that until I posted this.

[Marthe48]

33. lol

I needed a laugh!

[dweller]

6. Has it been proven beyond a shadow of doubt

That Musk is not ‘one of them’ ?
🤔



✌🏻

[Doc Sportello]

20. Ha!

Great question.

[dalton99a]

7. And his pickup truck will be seaworthy

[Aristus]

8. Okay, that's a suspiciously specific attribute for a robot.

[genxlib]

9. The weird reference to safety aside

There is another statement that is much more ominous to me.

...usher in a future where physical work would be a choice."

Will it really be a choice if the industrialists decide that the robots are cheaper?

Will we also have the "choice" to buy food and shelter with non-existent wages?

History is full of utopian promises of leisurely lifestyles as technology takes over for labor.

Capitalism says otherwise.

[durablend]

13. You'll have a choice to live or die

What more you want ?

[getagrip_already]

10. That's exactly what I would expect a maniacal, human domineering robot to say....

It's straight out of the republican play book.

[Shermann]

11. Sort of reminds me of Rubber Man

That's not unnerving or anything.

/revision/latest?cb=20181218163943

[Carlitos Brigante]

12. Suuuuure, that's what they said about The "Zuckerberg-Z384-B" unit... nt

[Javaman]

14. In other news: "friendly" robot overpowers humans. nt

[PortTack]

15. Oh kinda like your self driving cars are just sooo safe....GO AWAY!

[nuxvomica]

16. If you don't want to scare people, don't try to make it look human

There's a concept called the "uncanny valley" whereby anything artificial that looks and acts close enough to a human but isn't is kind of nightmarish. Now if they all looked like R2-D2, C-3PO or Wall-E that might be ok.

[Initech]

17. I just want an alcoholic chain smoking kleptomaniac robot.

[chriscan64]

29. "I don't always say 'Kill All Humans'"

"But when I do, I don't mean you guys."

[Torchlight]

18. Has the obstacle to achieving this goal been engineering or processing/data?

Both seem insurmountable to me, but it looks like they're getting close and I'm not the brightest forty watt bulb.

[PeaceWave]

19. Might not be a bad idea to have these in assisted care facilities...

Presumably, the robots would not be programmed to do some of the evil things that have occurred to elderly people at the hands of paid "caregivers." Or, perhaps the robots could be programmed to beat senseless any caregiver that physically, verbally or emotionally abuses an elderly person. I'd be okay with that.

[former9thward]

27. To your point:

The largest source of injuries to care facility workers are back injuries. They get them by trying to lift and move their patients. A robot might solve that big problem.

[jmowreader]

21. Hi, Tesla fans. I'm Elon Musk. This is the robot I invented.

And if those worthless eaters who work for me even THINK about unionizing, I'll fire every last one of them and give their jobs to these robots.

[CentralMass]

24. He will do that anyway.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

22. Sorry Elon, you're a little late. George Lucas invented those back in the 70s.

KY........

[ananda]

23. Boy, that's some code speak for putting humans out of work.

...

[artemisia1]

28. Where is Linda Hamilton when you need her? /nt

[Demsrule86]

30. Elon Musk has a loose screw...sorry Tesla investors...you going to lose all you money.

[Beetwasher.]

32. Elon Musk's Robot Army

Yeah, yeah, perfectly safe. I would never program an override into them that only I control. Not little old me. He’s a Bond villain.