Quote of the day by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk: "One of the biggest mistakes we made was trying to automate things that are super easy for a person to do" — remarks on where automation got it wrong

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Elon Musk has been a central figure in the AI and robotics build-out, with his company Tesla being one of the key players in the modern landscape

Elon Musk speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
(Image credit: The Joe Rogan Experience)

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been a central figure in the rise of robotics in the last decade, both as a builder of robotics, as well as a user of robotics, with the company he leads. Despite progress across the field of robotics in recent years, there are aspects of implementation that haven't always been so smooth.

"One of the biggest mistakes we made was trying to automate things that are super easy for a person to do, but super hard for a robot to do."

The age of automation

When his past company Tesla was incorporating more automation and elements of robotics into its production of the Tesla Model 3 in 2018, the company ran into various issues.

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Elon Musk summarized the issue while issuing comments during a shareholder meeting in June that year, suggesting the approach to automation wasn't conducive to actually increasing productivity.

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Specifically, the robots installed struggled with automating final assembly tasks (such as placing flexible trim pieces and hoses) – with Musk also later tweeting that the company made a mistake in implementing "excessive automation".

The lesson was that automating anything and everything within scope was a mistake because there were certain tasks that humans are, and continue to be, strong in. Qualities that robots have, and continue to, lack may include dexterity and cognitive reasoning.

The future of robotics

Tesla's push into robotics has continued at pace since then, with the company's Tesla Optimus soon to enter mass production with a targeted $25,000 retail price.

But whether the technology has advanced enough to make a mark remains to be seen. These qualities include advanced AI, as well as cognitive reasoning and contextual understanding necessary to understand and operate within the physical world.

We've seen plenty of examples of humanoid robots that look the real deal – but still cannot engage in tasks that require a high level of dexterity and understanding to perform well in real-world scenarios.

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Keumars Afifi-Sabet
Keumars Afifi-Sabet
Freelance Contributor

Keumars Afifi-Sabet is a freelance contributor for Tech Radar and the Technology Editor for Live Science. He has written for a variety of publications including ITPro, The Week Digital and ComputerActive. He has worked as a technology journalist for more than five years, having previously held the role of features editor with ITPro. In his previous role, he oversaw the commissioning and publishing of long form in areas including AI, cyber security, cloud computing and digital transformation.

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