The Tesla Bot appeared on stage at TeslaAI Day to set the tone for what was to come. The bot was a human. The demonstration featured a human dressed up as a bot. But the fantastic thing is that Elon Musk seemed not to be trying to make a joke of it. Either that or Musk has become so involved in memes technology that it is difficult to tell the difference between jokes and real life.
The bot. We don’t know much. Musk said, “It’s designed to be friendly. It can navigate through a world made for humans.” OK? You might be right. This famous entrepreneur made bold predictions about AI and robotics. He suggested that we need huge regulation to keep us safe when they learn how sentient robots can become.
He deadpanned, “The Tesla Bot is real.”
He said that brain-computer interfaces will be coming and that Telsa has “quite good” skills with sensors, batteries, and actuators. He suggested that a prototype might be available next year. The bot would perform repetitive tasks and be “against it” and “most probably overpower it.” This is where the meme meets reality.
He joked that the screen’s head is about six feet high. At this point, I was beginning to surprise if this presentation made any sense.
Then, he stated that humanoids were difficult to program because you must give them precise instructions. I can agree with it, as robotics experts know robots do only what they are programmed. It was hard to imagine who would teach it to clean up the yard or water the grass.
So did Twitter users. Some memes suggested that this was a joke about Will Smith movies back in the day and that we will all need to run a bit faster someday.
Here’s an example: I am still laughing at this robot checkbox.
This is how Telsa Bot might look, so we may want to run.
What does this all mean?
Social media is full of noise. Some days there is the only sound. It might surprise you to find something that is valuable. We’ve become so sophisticated that memes are now used to tell stories, and tweets serve as our emotional connection. Facebook is where we spend the majority of our time.
Musk knows this. Musk is an expert at cutting through the noise with more noise. Even though Tesla Bot is noisy, it makes one sit up and pay attention. Then, I wonder if it is possible to relax and realize that someone wearing a latex suit was dancing around on stage.
Is Tesla a severe company? Yes, it is. Is Tesla Bot even extreme?
This is where it gets exciting.
