Elon Musk's Humanoid Robot Faces Concerns from Experts
2022-09-26
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1Job listings from Elon Musk's Texas-based Tesla company show that Tesla plans to deploy thousands of human-like, or humanoid, robots within its factories.
2The robots are being called Tesla Bot or Optimus.
3Musk says the number of Tesla Bots could one day reach millions around the world.
4Musk said at a TED Talk that robots could be used in homes, do household work, and care for older people.
5They could even become a friend or adult partner.
6Musk also said the robot business may be bigger than Tesla's car business.
7Musk has been marketing Tesla as a company that does much more than just make self-driving vehicles.
8At its "AI Day" on September 30, Musk said Tesla will show an early kind of robot from its project Optimus.
9The name for the project comes from a film series about robots called Transformers.
10Musk said production on the robots could start next year.
11Robot experts, investors and researchers spoke with Reuters about the robot news.
12They said Tesla faces doubt among the public that the high cost of "general purpose" robots would be worth it.
13Tesla already has hundreds of robots working in its production of its cars.
14Humanoid robots have been in development for many years by car companies Honda and Hyundai's Boston Dynamics.
15One problem with humanoid robots is that they have trouble with unpredictable situations.
16Shaun Azimi is the lead of NASA's Dexterous Robotics Team.
17He told Reuters, "Self-driving cars weren't really proved to be as easy as anyone thought. And it's the same way with humanoid robots to some extent."
18He added, "If something unexpected happens, being flexible and robust to those kinds of changes is very difficult."
19At an "Autonomy" event in 2019, Musk promised 1 million self-driving taxi cars by 2020.
20Tesla has not yet produced any self-driving taxis.
21Experts say that even if Musk's robots show simple abilities, it will be hard for him to show the public that robots are as able as humans.
22Nancy Cooke is a professor in human systems engineering at Arizona State University.
23She said that in order for Tesla to succeed, it will need to show robots doing several unplanned actions.
24She said, "If he just gets the robot to walk around, or he gets the robots to dance, that's already been done. That's not that impressive."
25Tesla did not answer Reuters' request for comments.
26At first, Musk said Optimus will be used to perform boring or dangerous jobs, including moving parts around factories.
27Musk has said that humanoid robots do not have enough intelligence to operate in the real world without being clearly told what to do.
28But he said Tesla can use its knowledge in AI and important robotic parts to develop and mass-produce smart, less costly, humanoid robots.
29Tesla plans to employ many new people to work on humanoid robots.
30There are about 20 job listings related to the "Tesla Bot," including jobs for designing important robot parts.
31Musk and his company have had their own problems with robots.
32In 2018, Musk found a robot had difficulties dealing with material that human hands could easily work with.
33He said the costs of having someone keep up the robots was much higher than just having a human put the product together.
34Gene Munster is a partner at the capital firm Loup Ventures, which holds Tesla stocks.
35He said, "Investors are not excited about Optimus."
36He added that there is a low possibility that the product will work on a larger scale.
37And, he said, humanoid robots are much more difficult to make than self-driving cars.
38I'm Gregory Stachel.
1Job listings from Elon Musk's Texas-based Tesla company show that Tesla plans to deploy thousands of human-like, or humanoid, robots within its factories. 2The robots are being called Tesla Bot or Optimus. Musk says the number of Tesla Bots could one day reach millions around the world. 3Musk said at a TED Talk that robots could be used in homes, do household work, and care for older people. They could even become a friend or adult partner. 4Musk also said the robot business may be bigger than Tesla's car business. Musk has been marketing Tesla as a company that does much more than just make self-driving vehicles. 5At its "AI Day" on September 30, Musk said Tesla will show an early kind of robot from its project Optimus. The name for the project comes from a film series about robots called Transformers. Musk said production on the robots could start next year. 6Robot experts, investors and researchers spoke with Reuters about the robot news. They said Tesla faces doubt among the public that the high cost of "general purpose" robots would be worth it. 7Tesla already has hundreds of robots working in its production of its cars. 8Problems robots face 9Humanoid robots have been in development for many years by car companies Honda and Hyundai's Boston Dynamics. One problem with humanoid robots is that they have trouble with unpredictable situations. 10Shaun Azimi is the lead of NASA's Dexterous Robotics Team. He told Reuters, "Self-driving cars weren't really proved to be as easy as anyone thought. And it's the same way with humanoid robots to some extent." 11He added, "If something unexpected happens, being flexible and robust to those kinds of changes is very difficult." 12At an "Autonomy" event in 2019, Musk promised 1 million self-driving taxi cars by 2020. Tesla has not yet produced any self-driving taxis. 13Experts say that even if Musk's robots show simple abilities, it will be hard for him to show the public that robots are as able as humans. 14Nancy Cooke is a professor in human systems engineering at Arizona State University. She said that in order for Tesla to succeed, it will need to show robots doing several unplanned actions. 15She said, "If he just gets the robot to walk around, or he gets the robots to dance, that's already been done. That's not that impressive." 16Tesla did not answer Reuters' request for comments. 17Optimus plans 18At first, Musk said Optimus will be used to perform boring or dangerous jobs, including moving parts around factories. 19Musk has said that humanoid robots do not have enough intelligence to operate in the real world without being clearly told what to do. But he said Tesla can use its knowledge in AI and important robotic parts to develop and mass-produce smart, less costly, humanoid robots. 20Tesla plans to employ many new people to work on humanoid robots. There are about 20 job listings related to the "Tesla Bot," including jobs for designing important robot parts. 21Humanoid robots criticism 22Musk and his company have had their own problems with robots. In 2018, Musk found a robot had difficulties dealing with material that human hands could easily work with. He said the costs of having someone keep up the robots was much higher than just having a human put the product together. 23Gene Munster is a partner at the capital firm Loup Ventures, which holds Tesla stocks. He said, "Investors are not excited about Optimus." He added that there is a low possibility that the product will work on a larger scale. And, he said, humanoid robots are much more difficult to make than self-driving cars. 24I'm Gregory Stachel. 25Hyunjoo Jin reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. 26________________________________________________________________________ 27Words in This Story 28artificial intelligence (AI) - n. the development of computer systems with the ability to perform work that normally requires human intelligence 29flexible - adj. willing to change or to try different things 30robust - adj. successful or impressive and not likely to fail or weaken 31taxi - n. a car that carries passengers to a place for an amount of money that is based on the distance traveled 32impressive - adj. deserving attention, admiration, or respect 33boring - adj. dull and uninteresting 34scale - n. the size required to solve a problem 35distract - v. to cause (someone) to stop thinking about or paying attention to someone or something and to think about or pay attention to someone or something else instead 36excited - adj. very enthusiastic and eager about something 37______________________________________________________________________ 38What do you think of humanoid robots? 39We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 40Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.