People have been left unnerved after seeing someone ‘interviewing’ one of the new androids produced by Tesla.
Elon Musk announced the new robots, which are called Optimus, and are designed to mimic the human body.
One of the Optimus robots (John Ricky/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The robots were announced at an event called We, Robot event at Warner Bros studios in California.
‘We, Robot’ is a reference to a short story collection by Isaac Asimov, as well as the movie I, Robot starring Will Smith, in which androids attempt to carry out a revolution against humanity.
So you know, a fitting reference for a convention hosting brand new android robots.
A group of the robots marched onstage as Musk proclaimed how the company had ‘progressed dramatically year after year’ in their development.
But what exactly are these robots actually for, other than us simply being able to say we can make them?
Well, the Optimus robots are designed to be domestic servants, with Musk describing them as being able to fulfil a number of tasks around the house.
He said: “It’ll do anything you want. It can be a teacher, babysit your kids, it can walk your dog, mow your lawn, get the groceries. Just be your friend, serve drinks. Whatever you can think of, it will do.”
Presumably if you’re wealthy enough to afford an Optimus, then you would crave the peace of mind that your robotic servant is less likely to unionise than a human one.
That is until the thing that happens in literally every science fiction about androids, happens.
A video of one of the robots was posted on social in which someone conducts an ‘interview’ with one of the robots.
The interviewer chats to Optimus, asking where the robot is from.
Someone talked with one of the robots (X / @cb_doge)
Optimus replies talking about the factory where the robots are built, saying: “That’s where they train us, that’s where we get our builds – they’re wonderful, super people.”
The interviewer then asks Optimus: “What’s the hardest thing about being a robot?”
After a short pause Optimus then replies: “Trying to learn how to be as human as you guys are.
“And that’s something I try to do harder every day and I hope that you’ll help us become that.”
Many people were disturbed by the reply, with one writing: “This is how the movie starts.”
Another commented: “The last 20 seconds of this clip should make your blood go cold. Most won’t take this seriously.”
But others weren’t convinced that it was an AI model speaking, and that it was actually being operated by someone else.
One person wrote: “Nah that’s just literally some guy in his apartment on a VR headset controlling the robot.”