Loyal readers will know that I'm a huge fan of artificial intelligence. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blind to the dangers it presents and have warned readers to keep AI in mind when we're talking about the future of our nation because no matter what, AI will be a huge part of it. The pace at which it's making itself a part of our lives now should clue you into that.
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(READ: The Left Sees the Power of AI and Its Primary Thought Is to Wield It Against You, America)
The future is going to be a pretty incredible place, filled with technologies we pictured in sci-fi movies. With each new project from tech companies, those technologies we thought were only available in the distant future now look like they're right around the corner. It's a very exciting time, and not just in the realm of AI, but in AR and VR technologies which, as I've previously written, will become a huge part of your everyday life.
But Tesla, whom I thought was lagging behind in the world of AI robotics, just showed that it's actually one of the bigger contenders, and as Tesla CEO Elon Musk noted, his robots will be homes very, very soon.
Recently, Musk put on his "We, Robot" event where he displayed several new releases including an autonomous "Cybercab" or "Model Y," botch of which have no steering wheel or gas pedals, and operate like a driverless Uber, which Musk says will severely reduce the cost of the cabs and vans for users. Moreover, Musk says that you will actually be able to buy these vehicles for personal use as well, with a cost below $30,000.
There's also a larger version called a "Robovan."
When is this going to be available?
It's coming to Texas and California next year.
Musk admits that he's optimistic with time frames, but he expects a full rollout by 2026.
But that's hardly the most insane thing he displayed. Robot cars are cool and all, but let's face facts. The real meat is the robot humanoids, and Musk showed his "Optimus" isn't just coming along, it's about ready to help you at home. I mean, he had it serving drinks and chatting with guests as the "We, Robot" event.
How close are these? Well, Musk is already putting a price on them of around $20k to $30k, so I imagine they're not that far away. In the promo shots, Musk shows them doing various tasks around the home, such as cleaning, picking up packages, serving drinks, and playing games. As the video footage plays, Musk elaborates, saying that these robots could even walk your dogs, and act as a tutor for your kids.
What strikes me about this isn't how autonomously it moves. In terms of its ability to walk and manipulate things, we've had that in robots for a little while now. You may recall my reports about Figure01 from Figure AI not long ago, which I put into a short video here.
But what really impresses me is the robot's ability to hold a conversation, and in a way that is almost indistinguishable from humans, including various inflections and filler words to make them seem less robotic, and more warmblooded.
The ability to move fluidly will only improve with time, and I can't help but think those improvements will come swiftly. I have every confidence that in 20 years time (possibly less at the rate these things keep advancing) we'll see a robot that look and sound very human.
It's that factor that will ultimately sell robots in the home to humanity. We're not talking about a "beep boop yes master" kind of robot walking around your home, looking like something that walked out of the uncanny valley. We're talking about a "Hey, how was your day? Can I get you a drink?" kind of robot that sounds like another human voice in the home. What's more, you can tell the robot about your day, it will listen, and carry on a conversation with you about it. It will listen to your ideas and even help you expand on them.
I know it will be capable of doing that right off the bat, because I'm already doing that now with ChatGPT 4o.
We're not talking about just a robot, this will border on being another member of your household in the same way that Rosie was to the Jetsons, or C-3PO was to Luke Skywalker. Future generations will grow up alongside robots and see them as members of the family, not purchased robotic servants. They will interact with them, learn from them, and play with them.
I foresee a lot of integration happening as well. Not long ago, I surmised that many of these robotic servants in the home will be integrated into your life in many ways. For instance, they'll also be able to link up with the tech in your home via Wi-Fi or some other kind of wireless signal. If your car breaks down, they'll be able to talk to the car, find out what broke, order the part, then install it. Then it will clean itself and make dinner.
This is all exciting but, I want to reiterate that there would be drawbacks to this, some we can see coming and others we can't. These robots will likely be replacing a lot of human jobs. That's something we, as a society, need to start talking about and pronto, and start crafting some rules and guidelines around.
Moreover, let's face facts, these robots are going to be huge data collectors, not just because their companies are going to want them to collect data, but because part of being human-like is learning from its users. Anyone who has used any kind of AI program in the past couple of years understands this. AI tends to ask a lot of questions in order to get to know you, and better interact with you. It needs to be made very clear that there are certain types of data that is incredibly illegal to send back to home office once collected.
In truth, that conversation should have started with Alexa.
These are conversations that don't just need to happen, they have to. These robots, and AI, are not going to be stopped. Even if you vow never to have one in your home, your children very well will, and their children definitely will. This is happening, the question now is, how much will you influence how robots and AI work in our society now.
That said, it's not all doom and gloom. This is a very incredible time we're living in, and I can't wait to see how these robots and AI develop further. I firmly believe that the next step in societal evolution, including humanity becoming a space-faring species, was always going to follow AI becoming common and advanced.
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