‘[They] will be long gone and mostly conveniently forgotten’

A high-profile robotics expert thinks Elon Musk’s AI ambitions are a pipe dream. Luck.

Rodney Brooks was the co-founder of iRobot, creator of the home robot vacuum cleaner Roomba. He recently wrote that it would be almost impossible for robots to fulfill the same roles as humans, despite Tesla’s goal of having robots do this with its Optimus product.

“I think it’s completely delusional to believe that this will happen any time in the coming decades.” wrote On Brooks’ personal blog. “But many predict it will happen in as little as two years, and more conservative ‘hypenotists’ believe it will have a significant economic impact within five years.”

One of the biggest bottlenecks, according to Brooks, is the huge difference in touch sensitivity between humans and existing robots. He argues that the difference in dexterity also poses a major challenge for humanoid robots trying to fill human shoes. As might be expected from the former Chief Technical Officer behind Roomba, he still sees the use of specialized robots in a wide range of form factors.

Despite all his foresight, Brooks’ iRobot filed for bankruptcy in December.

Although artificial intelligence offers many advantages, such as robots that can cook and clean for us, its disadvantages are also quite significant. Even the possibility of mainstream robot workers emerging has serious economic consequences, and the problems don’t end there.

These robots are powered by artificial intelligence models that require large amounts of energy to build. This energy causes atmospheric pollution when produced from coal, oil or gas. Early indications are that the explosion of AI in all its forms – robotics, text, images and video – is having a significant impact on pollution.

These issues, as well as the difficulties Tesla has had with Optimus so far, have been addressed. tough sales figures in 2025 and legal battles on their driverless cars.

Whatever the technical feasibility of human-shaped robots, Brooks has been particularly skeptical about the investment climate around this emerging industry and has made bold predictions about its future.

“A lot of money will be lost trying to throttle the performance, any performance, of today’s humanoid robots,” he said on his blog. “But these robots will long be gone and mostly forgotten.”

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