Anish Vij
The human race better watch their backs – Elon Musk’s I, Robot will be ready to go in three months' time.
The world's richest man will showcase a prototype of the bot, named 'Optimus', on Tesla's 'AI Day' on 30 September.
It will be unveiled as a 5ft 8ins, 125-pound humanoid robot whose face/screen will display information.
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Musk says the humanoid robot will be capable of dead-lifting 150 pounds (69kg), while being able to carry 45 pounds (21kg).
Apparently the bot will make use of Tesla's autopilot software and will be equipped with eight cameras to feed into the neural network, which is said to emulate functions of the human brain.
It uses the cameras to evaluate its surroundings by identifying objects, routes and images.
Despite concerns made by people who watch too many sci-fi films, Musk promised a non-dangerous robot capable of 'boring tasks'.
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Speaking to British journalist John Micklethwait from a live link-up at the forum in Doha, Musk said: "I hope that we will have an interesting prototype to show people.
"We have a very talented team at Tesla that I'm working with closely to have a prototype humanoid robot ready by the end of September.
"And I think we are tracking to that point."
Last year, the Tesla CEO, who has previously spoken about his fears over artificial intelligence getting out of hand, also said: "We're setting it such that it is at a mechanical level, at a physical level, that you can run away from it and most likely overpower it."
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"Our cars are semi-sentient robots on wheels," Musk added. "It kind of makes sense to put that [the software] on to a human-like [form] as well."
The CEO said the Tesla Bots could be used for businesses, where staff usually have to carry out dangerous tasks.
He continued to say that the main objective will be to make the robot navigate through daily life without being told what to do.
He explained: "There will be profound applications for the economy. In the future, physical work will be a choice."
Musk concluded: "We're making the pieces that would be useful for [building] a humanoid robot, so we should probably make it.
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"If we don't, someone else will – and we want to make sure it's safe."