Why I think Elon Musk's Optimus Robot shows we are focusing on the wrong things

Elon Musk has unveiled the new ‘Tesla Optimus Robot’ in California this week. Costing between $20,000 and $30,000, the robot is intended to assist with manual labour such as household chores.

Musk proudly commented: ‘’Whatever you can think of, it will do’’ - a little ominous don’t you think?

However fascinating this creation is, I can’t help but find it a little disconcerting that these robots, soon available for mass purchase, will live among us, watering plants, bringing in groceries and even babysitting children. It sounds like something straight out of a technological dystopia.

These minor tasks are a part of life we all accept...do we seriously need robots to help bring drinks to a table? Society has become extremely lazy if so.

Many have drawn parallels between the ‘Optimus’ robot and the robots featured in the 2004 sci-fi movie starring Will Smith: ‘’I, Robot’’. Even its filmmaker wrote on X: ‘’Hey Elon, can I have my designs back please?’’, which has been viewed 8 million times, accusing Musk of copying both his robot design, and the vehicles in the movie that uncannily resemble Musk’s Robovan and Robotaxi.

People have enjoyed satirising this on social media, with TikTok users commenting things such as: ‘’Will Smith warned us about this’’ or ‘’Isn’t there like three movies about why this is a terrible idea?’’. Previous enthusiasm for these humanoid robots has dwindled.

Concerns were heightened when a video of one of these robots being interviewed went viral. When asked what the hardest thing about being a robot is, it responded being ‘’as human as you guys are’’. It then went on to claim, ‘‘that is something I try harder at every day and hope that will help us become better’’. After I watched this video, I was shocked that these robots can communicate in such a human way. It makes me think of Freud’s Theory of the Uncanny, which describes an unsettling and odd familiarity. I am not going as far as saying that the robots are going to take over the entire world, but this declaration is rather wild.

What also doesn’t sit right with me is that we are investing in this, when there are clearly more pressing and urgent issues in society we should be focusing on, rather than overcoming the burden of watering plants. The climate crisis, world poverty, healthcare problems are just a few, and these should surely take centre stage and must be given more international attention.

According to World Health Organisation, between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year from undernutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress alone. The fact that attention is being paid to such trivial matters in comparison is frustrating and unjustifiable. Rather than trying to revolutionise the future, maybe we should be focusing on fixing the present.