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Elon Musk’s Humanoid Robot Faces Concerns from Experts

时间：2022-10-09 03:31:08

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Elon Musk1’s Humanoid Robot Faces Concerns from Experts

Job listings from Elon Musk's Texas-based Tesla company show that Tesla plans to deploy2 thousands of human-like, or humanoid, robots within its factories.

The robots are being called Tesla Bot or Optimus. Musk says the number of Tesla Bots could one day reach millions around the world.

Musk said at a TED3 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.

Musk also said the robot business may be bigger than Tesla's car business. Musk has been marketing4 Tesla as a company that does much more than just make self-driving vehicles.

At 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.

Robot experts, investors5 and researchers spoke6 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.

Tesla already has hundreds of robots working in its production of its cars.

Problems robots face

Humanoid robots have been in development for many years by car companies Honda and Hyundai's Boston Dynamics8. One problem with humanoid robots is that they have trouble with unpredictable situations.

Shaun Azimi is the lead of NASA's Dexterous9 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."

He added, "If something unexpected happens, being flexible and robust10 to those kinds of changes is very difficult."

At an "Autonomy" event in 2019, Musk promised 1 million self-driving taxi cars by 2020. Tesla has not yet produced any self-driving taxis.

Experts 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.

Nancy 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.

She 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."

Tesla did not answer Reuters' request for comments.

Optimus plans

At first, Musk said Optimus will be used to perform boring or dangerous jobs, including moving parts around factories.

Musk 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 costly11, humanoid robots.

Tesla 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.

Humanoid robots criticism

Musk and his company have had their own problems with robots. In 2018, Musk found a robot had difficulties dealing12 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.

Gene7 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.

Words in This Story

artificial intelligence (AI) – n. the development of computer systems with the ability to perform work that normally requires human intelligence

flexible – adj. willing to change or to try different things

robust – adj. successful or impressive and not likely to fail or weaken

taxi – n. a car that carries passengers to a place for an amount of money that is based on the distance traveled

impressive – adj. deserving attention, admiration13, or respect

boring – adj. dull and uninteresting

scale – n. the size required to solve a problem

distract – 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

excited – adj. very enthusiastic and eager about something


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 musk v6pzO     
n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫
参考例句：
  • Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
  • She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。
2 deploy Yw8x7     
v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开
参考例句：
  • The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
  • The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。
3 ted 9gazhs     
vt.翻晒，撒，撒开
参考例句：
  • The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
  • She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。
4 marketing Boez7e     
n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西
参考例句：
  • They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
  • He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。
5 investors dffc64354445b947454450e472276b99     
n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
  • a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会
6 spoke XryyC     
n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
参考例句：
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
7 gene WgKxx     
n.遗传因子，基因
参考例句：
  • A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
  • The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。
8 dynamics NuSzQq     
n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态
参考例句：
  • In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
  • Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。
9 dexterous Ulpzs     
adj.灵敏的；灵巧的
参考例句：
  • As people grow older they generally become less dexterous.随着年龄的增长，人通常会变得不再那么手巧。
  • The manager was dexterous in handling his staff.那位经理善于运用他属下的职员。
10 robust FXvx7     
adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的
参考例句：
  • She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
  • China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。
11 costly 7zXxh     
adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的
参考例句：
  • It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
  • This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。
12 dealing NvjzWP     
n.经商方法，待人态度
参考例句：
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。
13 admiration afpyA     
n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕
参考例句：
  • He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
  • We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

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