Elon Musk’s Humanoid Robot Is Facing Some Serious Skepticism

Elon Musk confirmed in a tweet that the same team working on Tesla’s Autopilot is also developing the Tesla Bot, and the company is likewise hiring quite a number of people who will work on the robotics project. Does that mean we’re nearing a future in which human-like robots can be found in every pocket of society, performing the tasks typically only humans can do? Not quite — and, in fact, Reuters reports that both analysts and experts are “skeptical” that Tesla will be able to show off the tech arguably necessary to make the expenses on the project seem worth it.

When looking at AI-powered vehicles, we have a long way to go before we achieve full autonomy, as defined by SAE International. As per the SAE International definition, Tesla’s Autopilot is at level 2 — although the company is on course to introduce level 3. In context, any Tesla with autonomous technology still requires humans to take control during operation, and it’s likely that humanoid robots will be limited in similar ways, at least for the foreseeable future.

“Self-driving cars weren’t really proved to be as easy as anyone thought. And it’s the same way with humanoid robots to some extent,” Shaun Azimi, the leader of the Dexterous Robotics Team at NASA, said in a statement to Reuters. Besides that, Hyundai and Honda have been building humanoid robots for the past few years, but they’re yet to crack the code of having an AI that can perform tasks as good as humans.