Author: Kelly Carter
Technology has advanced tremendously over the years and does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be shaping humanity’s future in every industry, including grocery shopping!
We might be getting closer to having the ideal shopping companion we didn’t realize we needed.
This article will cover everything you need to know about “Optimus,” a new humanoid robot that could one day buy your groceries for you.
Let’s get started!
When was Optimus revealed to the public?
At the 2022 AI Day on Friday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk presented the company’s newest humanoid robot, “Optimus.”
He describes the prototype as a “rough development robot,” which took six months to complete. Optimus stepped onto the stage slowly at the event before dancing and waving to the audience.
The CEO told the audience that the objective was to produce a viable humanoid robot as soon as possible. However, Optimus still needs a lot of work to polish and improve it.
He added that this was the robot’s first time walking by itself without any additional support to prevent it from falling, and it could perform more complex tasks than those shown on stage. Then he played a video of Optimus carrying boxes, moving metal bars, and watering a plant for the audience.
Optimus to use the same technology as Tesla cars
According to Stephen Shankland of CNET, Optimus will use the same artificial intelligence (AI) that Tesla software engineers developed for the company’s cars, which include an AI-powered driver assistance system.
Also, the robot’s AI will be trained in the actual world instead of driving videos. Musk concluded that he anticipates people using these robots to help with routine activities.
In his Tesla factories, he intends to put them through several tests before having them perform tasks for human customers, like grocery shopping, in the future.
Is Tesla alone in this visionary idea?
Several companies have also created humanoid robots, such as Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, which can perform backflips and jumps while navigating a parkour track.
According to musk, those other robots are unique, but they lack the capacity for autonomous decision-making. He further stated that they are expensive, and are produced in small quantities. Elon wants to create Optimus in large amounts as an autonomous robot and sell them for less than $20,000.
Remarks from critics
At last year’s AI day, Musk employed a human dressed as a robot to present Tesla’s initial design for the humanoid robot to the crowd. Although the development of Optimus has advanced significantly since then, critics assert that Tesla is still far from being able to market it.
Heni Ben Amor, a robotics specialist at Arizona State University, tells Reuters that there is a gap between Tesla’s vision and what they demonstrated at the AI Day event. “There’s still plenty of work to be done regarding agility, speed, the capacity to walk stably, and so on,” he added.
According to skeptics, Musk hasn’t shown much proof that the robot can genuinely perform all the functions he promises it can, based on the AI Day demonstration.
Would you let Optimus buy your groceries?
Elon Musk revealed Tesla’s Optimus at the company’s AI Day event. Humanoid is a robot he hopes will one day assist humans with errands, The robot has a long way to go before it can help you purchase groceries, but Musk believes it’s only a matter of time before it can. However, some critics disagree with the CEO, citing the AI Day presentation as a failure to demonstrate the robot’s capability.