Always the techno-optimist, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said recently that the Optimus robot will be able to babysit your children, among other handy abilities.
“It’s, you know, your companion, it can be at your house, it can sort of babysit your kids, it could teach them... be a teacher. It, you know, it can do factory stuff,” Musk said while describing the robot on Thursday.
Musk went on to say Optimus would be like having your own personal robot from the Star Wars franchise.
“Like, who doesn’t want a C3PO, you know? You know, but a C3PO plus R2D2 plus, you know, plus plus. It would be pretty awesome. I think everyone in the world is going to want one. Like, literally everyone,” Musk continued.
Everybody recalls the Nanny robot from Philip K. Dick's 1955 story of the same name.
"Come on!" Bobby shouted.
Abruptly Nanny moved, spinning slightly as her treads gripped the floor and turned her around. One of her side doors opened. A long metal rod shot out. Playfully, Nanny caught Bobby's arm with her grapple and drew him to her. She perched him on her back. Bobby's legs straddled the metal hull. He kicked with his heels excitedly, jumping up and down.
Update 17-Aug-2024: See also this earlier example, the childcare robot from Robbie (Strange Playfellow), by Isaac Asimov, published by Super Science Stories in 1940.
End update.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/6/2024)
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