Do you remember the weird Will Smith film about robots?
We don't either. Elon Musk is. Tesla is working on a 58 Tesla Bot. A prototype will be available in the next year. This news was announced during Tesla's inaugural AI Day. It was streamed live on the company's website Thursday night.
The bot is proposed to be a non-automotive robotic application case for the company's neural network research and Dojo advanced supercomputer.
Musk stated that Tesla is the world's largest robotics company. Our cars are semi-sentient robots on wheels. It makes sense to add the Full Self-Driving Computer [ ], which will continue evolving and Dojo, all the neural nets that recognize the world and understand how to navigate through it, to make this a humanoid.
He said that the bot was designed to be friendly and help humans navigate in a world created for them. They are also developing it to allow humans to run from it and easily overpower it, he said. It will weigh in at 125 pounds, walk 5 miles per hour and display important information on its face.
Musk imagines this as replacing much the human drudgery that is currently occupying so many people's lives, not only labor but also grocery shopping and other daily tasks. Musk spoke of a future where physical work was an option, and all the implications it might have for the economy.
Musk stated that he believes universal basic income is necessary in the long-term. The robot isn't working right now, so it won't be necessary.
Musk concluded by inviting engineers to join the team and help build this.
