Tesla's robot flirts with people and wins their hearts

This week Tesla once again managed to surprise the tech world, when its humanoid robot Optimus flirted with the crowd during the unveiling event of the company's robo-van. Instead of presenting only distant futuristic technology, the robots surprised when they not only wandered among the visitors, but also spoke with a human accent, used modern slang, and incorporated verbal pauses, as if they were part of our lives. It seems that Tesla is not just building robots to perform tasks, but creating characters that sound as human as possible. The robots that interacted with the audience were indeed actors, but according to the company, they presented the potential capabilities of the robots that will be marketed soon.

During the event, Optimus came out of the warehouse into the crowd along with the unveiling of the new Robo-Van, showing off his abilities to perform everyday tasks such as picking up a package from the balcony or watering the pots. "Optimus will walk between you," said Tesla CEO Elon Musk. "You can walk up to them and they'll serve you a drink." Musk promised that these robots could actually "do everything," including taking the dog for a walk, babysitting the kids, and even mowing the lawn. And the price ?Musk indicated that in the long run the robot will cost between $20,000 and $30,000.

But it's not just about practical abilities - Optimus definitely knew how to make "noise". After the presentation, videos were released in which the robots were seen interacting with the guests, chatting around tables and playing board games. One of the robots even played rock-paper-scissors with visitors and passed out small gift bags. The climax came when several robots were seen dancing in an enclosed gazebo, adding to the atmosphere of enthusiasm at the event. However, it should be noted that the robots seen in the videos were actors, who only demonstrated the possible future capabilities of the robots.

The concept of the humanoid robot Optimus was first revealed in 2021, but was then taken as a joke when a man in a robot costume danced on stage. A year later, in 2022, Tesla unveiled a primitive prototype that carefully walked the stage. Since then, Optimus has undergone considerable improvements, and the current model is lighter and faster, with capabilities that bring it closer and closer to daily functioning alongside humans.

Musk presented Optimus not only as a robot that would simplify everyday tasks, but as a technology that would change the world. According to him, "this will be the biggest revolution of any kind" and he estimates that in the future, when millions of units are produced, it will be possible to significantly improve the world economy. Musk went so far as to claim that the robots could "bring about the end of poverty" due to the huge potential they would bring to improve labor productivity.

The current status of development indicates that Optimus is already in advanced stages. According to Musk's words in the April 2024 earnings call, the robot is expected to start performing "useful" tasks by the end of this year, and it may be available to the outside market as early as the end of 2025. This means that Tesla's robots may soon become an integral part of people's daily lives many.

As mentioned, Musk estimates that in the long term the price will be between $20,000 and $30,000. At such a price, the robot may be available to a wide variety of private and business customers. In the first phase, the main uses may be for basic tasks such as cleaning, guarding or helping at home, but over time the robot may also enter more complex areas such as medical assistance or education.

The future presented by Tesla at the last event is not only focused on technology, but also on the question of how this technology will fit into our daily lives. The humanoid robots, like Optimus, do perform practical tasks, but Tesla invested just as much in how they would look and sound. The ambition is to create robots that feel natural in their conversation with humans, with an accent that approaches human speech, natural pauses, and the use of slang that sounds like something we all say.

If Tesla does manage to seamlessly integrate Optimus into everyday life, we are facing a new era where robots will not only perform tasks, but also interact with human society in ways never seen before.