Elon Musk gave a powerful virtual speech to kick off the World Artificial Intelligence Conference today, sharing his thoughts on Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot, autonomous vehicles and the profound impact of artificial intelligence (AI). Musk praised China’s AI industry and expressed confidence in its capabilities, despite not being present in person.
According to Musk, this may be the most transformative time in human history. Tesla’s humanoid robots are still in the early stages of research, but Musk foresaw a time when there would be more robots than people on Earth, possibly reaching a 1:1 ratio. Musk explained that the function of Tesla’s humanoid robots is to perform tasks that humans would rather not do, making them very useful.
ELON MUSK: ‘There will be far more robots than humans in the future’
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) January 14, 2023
Musk reflected on his previous predictions, admitting their errors but stressing that his latest estimate seems to be more accurate. Tesla unveiled a prototype of the humanoid robot Optimus at last year’s AI Day event. The Shanghai World Artificial Intelligence Conference will be attended by Tesla, according to the company’s official announcement.
Musk also stated that he believes fully autonomous driving will be possible by the end of this year due to the rapid development of AI technology. Tesla is keen to share and license its autonomous driving technology with other car manufacturers. Musk also emphasized the huge impact that generative AI will have on humanity. As digital computing power continues to grow, the gap between machine and biological computing power is widening. This major shift points to a future in which artificial intelligence (AI) will become more pervasive and integrated into everyday life.
According to Musk, a typical family car is used only 10 to 20 hours a week, with most of that time wasted in parking lots. The utilisation rate of a fully autonomous vehicle would be five times higher than that of non-autonomous cars, as it could be used for 50-60 hours a week. By licensing its fully autonomous driving capabilities, Tesla hopes to make the technology available to other automakers.
In his video keynote at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, Elon Musk expressed confidence in China’s AI market and the potential impact of Tesla’s humanoid robots, autonomous driving and generative AI. The future of human-machine interaction seems set for a dramatic change, driven by technological breakthroughs and greater integration.
