Doomsayer Turned Drone: Elon Musk Unveils Autonomous Robot After Claiming AI Would Lead to the Downfall of Humanity

Tesla held its inaugural ‘AI Day’ presentation this week which showcased what the company wishes to achieve with the power of artificial intelligence. Autonomous vehicles and powerful computer vision were among the topics highlighted, but the star of the show was a fully autonomous robot.

Billed as the ‘Tesla Bot’ by the CEO, Elon Musk, the robot was announced at the end of the conference to immense surprise. Musk had claimed AI would potentially lead to the downfall and destruction of humanity just three years prior. He justified the creation of this robot by claiming that someone would eventually make one so who better to do it than himself?

Musk stated that he wishes to create a future where “physical work will be a choice” and this robot would propel the world towards it by taking up any form of “dangerous, repetitive or boring tasks”. He referenced his previous anti-AI sentiment by joking that the robot “is intended to be friendly” but if the need to escape or defend yourself from one ever arose, he assured the audience that the robots would be easy to overpower and run away from.