Elon Musk's Tesla Bots, also known as Optimus, have been generating memes on the internet since their presentation. During the "We, Robot" exhibition, held on October 10, 2024, robots were displayed in poses and situations that caused some uneasiness, with an almost human appearance. Despite the expectation of completely autonomous robots, Optimus still depends on human assistance.
Although they use artificial intelligence (AI) to move, their level of autonomy has not been clearly specified. During the event, the robots demonstrated their skills in household tasks such as serving drinks and other things. And this generated a lot of memes, especially one with the robot Sonny, from the film I, Robot (2004), with Will Smith.
The situation drew so much attention that the film's director, Alex Proyas, commented on his X account (formerly Twitter) referring to the visual similarity of the robots to those in the film. Elon Musk, in turn, predicted that the robots would be sold for between US$20,000 and US$30,000, comparable to the price of a mid-size car. He promised that Optimus bots could handle almost any task.
“It will do basically anything you want,” Musk said. “You can walk your dog, mow your lawn, go shopping. .
. be your friend. Anything you can think of, he will do.
In addition to the Optimus, Musk also presented the Cybercab, an automated taxi that, although promised for years, is still in development. The "We, Robot" exhibition impressed the public, but also reinforced the idea that full autonomy for robots is still far away. Despite the internet's derisive response, the reveal of the Optimus robot is being hailed as a significant advancement in robotics, with many speculating about how these machines could be integrated into everyday life in the future.
However, this reality reminds us that although science fiction films such as I, Robot explore the dangers of a society controlled by machines, current technology shows that there is still a long way to go before independent robots become a reality.
