Elon Musk shared the probability of ‘good outcome’ that’ll come from Optimus humanoid robots

After months of waiting and the event being postponed, Elon Musk finally took to the stage to deliver Tesla’s We, Robot event, unveiling some exciting things in the process – particularly about the Optimus robot.

Among those exciting things was the Tesla Cybercab, a fully autonomous vehicle that’ll allow the owner to ride in comfort without having to drive. However, despite that being the main focus, there was something else that really stole the show. 

Since as early as you can probably think of, the idea of robots becoming part of everyday life has been imagined. It now looks, however, like the time for imagining is nearly over, after Tesla showed off its updated humanoids, the Optimus Gen 2, at We, Robot.

Tesla had them serving drinks, dancing, and interacting with guests at the event. But, before letting them loose on the crowd, Elon Musk waxed lyrical about the robots, predicting that they’d become the ‘biggest product of all time’.

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“At scale, this’d cost somewhere around $20,000 to $30,000, I think. Less than the car,” Musk said as the robots made their way out. He went on to list things the units would be able to do, such as clean, teach, babysit, walk the dog, mow the lawn, serve drinks, and finally, be a friend. 

It seemed, as well, that he wasn’t telling fibs. The units acted, dare I say it, *gulp*, just like humans. When seeing it, it’s hard not to get excited. But should we?

Robots as a part of our every day life

As I mentioned, the idea of robots in society has long been imagined, but parallel to that the idea of robots overthrowing society and staging an uprising has also been imagined.

You don’t have to rattle your brain to make the leap from We, Robot to I, Robot, Will Smith’s 2004 action movie whereby a humanoid violates the ‘laws of robotics’ and causes mayhem.

So, it’s fresh in the mind, isn’t it?

One day your lawn is being mowed – a ‘useful task’ for sure – and your in-house robot makes one hell of a margarita, the next it’s thrown you through the wall and ran away to join its humanoid friends in taking over the world. 

At least they won’t cost the earth – well, monetarily, anyway.

So, is Optimus going to take over the world?

It seems that Elon Musk also has this on his mind. He briefly acknowledged the possibility of things not going to plan, but also appeared to play it down.

“I predict, actually, provided we address risks of digital super-intelligence,” he said, making sure to hold up a finger to make the crowd wait before scaring them half to death.

“80% probability of good; good outcome. Look on the brightside, the cup is 80% full,” he added.

He swiftly moved on before acknowledging the remaining 20%, which you’d have to assume is ‘bad outcome’, which won’t fill the average nay-sayer with too much hope. 

How potentially bad are we talking, here?

Will it just spill the odd drink, or do I need to think about a humanoid robot clause in my life insurance?

Will life insurance even cover that? Who will look after my kids? What about my future grandchildren?

I’m too young for this. 

See how easy it is to spiral? 

Now, of course, the majority of us folk not being humanoid engineers (unsure of official job title), we can’t necessarily jump to these conclusions.

However, just the act of saying ‘provided we address risks of digital super-intelligence’ seems enough to pump the brakes a little bit. 

Are we sure we want to go any further while there’s even a slight risk of digital super-intelligence?

Let me say that again: digital super-intelligence. Louder: DIGITAL SUPER-INTELLIGENCE. Slower: digital. Super. Intelligence. Phonetically: didge ih tal soop err inn tell ih gents. 

Some may be okay with the 20% risk, and to each their own.

But with Musk’s other prediction of the humanoids becoming a ‘household staple’, that 20% seems an awful lot bigger if the product is as widespread, as let’s say, cars. 

In conclusion, I, Robot has stood the test of time despite not being Will Smith’s best work, and may progress from cult movie to a foretelling masterpiece.