Why are robots getting close and personal? Here’s my BBC World Business Report about The Brave New World of autonomous cars and social robots. It aired on BBC World Service Monday April 13, 2015.
Two pioneers, Elon Musk of Tesla Motors and Cynthia Breazeal of Jibo Robot, explain why autonomous cars and robots are poised to invade your home and (potentially) make your life easier and safer.
Here’s the program. Listen at 12:16 on the podcast.
WBR Host, Susannah Streeter: The era of robots is getting personal. They’re slowly moving into our homes and our garages. What’s the business case for robot cars that can chauffeur you autonomously and desktop robots that can be your personal assistant? Will they be job killers or job creators? Alison van Diggelen reports from Silicon Valley, California where two pioneers recently described a brave new world full of robots.
Jen-Hsun Huang (Nvidia CEO): Ladies and Gentlemen, Please welcome Tesla CEO, cofounder, Elon Musk [applause]
Elon Musk: In the distant future, people may outlaw driving cars. It’s too dangerous. You can’t have a person driving a two-ton death machine. [laughter]
That’s Elon Musk, the CEO of electric vehicle maker, Tesla Motors speaking at a recent Silicon Valley tech conference. He helped revolutionize the world of electric vehicles by creating a sexy, high performance car that left the “golf cart” era in the dust. Now he’s joined the charge in autonomous driving, led by Google, and claims that taking a self driving car will soon be as everyday as using an elevator. But are you ready to step into a robot car?
Elon Musk: You’ll be able to tell your car: Take me home, go here, go there, anything…in an order of magnitude safer than a person. It’s going to be the default thing and could save a lot of lives.
Although you might grimace at the thought of relinquishing control, for Musk, Google and several major car manufacturers, the business case for autonomous cars is a no brainer – they say it could save $400 Billion a year in accident related expenses. Researchers at Columbia University found that a shared driverless fleet of cars could reduce personal travel costs by 80%.
But will robotic cars and other types of robots kill jobs?
Cynthia Breazeal argues they won’t. She’s a pioneer in social robots – ones that focus on human-robot interactions. She invented Jibo, a singing, dancing tabletop robot that looks like a cross between the Pixar lamp and an iPad.
Jibo Announcer: Introducing Jibo, the world’s first family robot. Say hi Jibo…
Jibo: Hi Jibo! [laughter]
Jibo Announcer: Jibo helps everyone out throughout their day [music]
Jibo is a personal assistant robot that can photograph, video, entertain and educate you and your family. It can remind you to call your mum on her birthday and even read your children bedtime stories.
Jibo: Let me in or else I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in!!
Girl: [Giggling]
Jibo announcer: He’s not just a connected device, he’s one of the family.
Girl: Shhhhh. Good night Jibo! [Computer sounds]
.
Although some people might find Jibo a bit creepy, the company’s crowd funding campaign showed its strong consumer appeal. Last year, it raised over $2M from Indiegogo in just 8 weeks. This year, it secured $25M in venture capital. Jibo goes on sale next year.
Breazeal acknowledges that robots were viewed as job killers, historically.
Breazeal: When robotics first came onto the market, it was a lot about replacing human labor. (So that’s been the assumption) Social robotics as a whole research discipline has been about a very different paradigm. So Jibo is not being designed to replace anyone or anything. (Sometimes people talk about, ‘it’s going to replace my dog…’ it’s not about that.) Jibo creates a different kind of relationship…like with your doctor, your dog for example. It’s about supporting the family, those who help care for the family, doctors and nurses…This high touch high tech technology is much better able to address those in need.
Her robot might one day be a job killer for healthcare workers and personal assistants. But for now, Breazeal is on a hiring spree, looking for engineers and she has MILLIONS to spend.
Ultimately, the brave new world of robots envisioned by these pioneers is as inevitable as the relentless advance of tech innovation.
Musk is only half joking when he says this:
Musk: I just hope there’s something left for us humans to do…
***
The report was recorded at the Nvidia Conference, Silicon Valley on March 16, 2015.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is so bullish about self driving cars and the promise of artificial intelligence, that he wonders if one day, there will be “something left for us humans to do.” Today he joined Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang onstage at the company’s annual developers conference in Silicon Valley and used the opportunity to recruit for Tesla’s autonomous driving team.
“Tesla is the leader in electric cars, and we’ll also be the leader in autonomous cars…at least autonomous cars that people can buy. If anybody is interested in working on autonomous cars, we’d love to have you work at Tesla. We’re going to put a lot of effort into autonomous driving…it’s going to be the default thing…it will be extremely transformative,” Elon Musk.
Musk, who Huang describes as an engineer’s engineer, views autonomous driving as “a solved problem” and expects that once its life-saving potential is proven, we’ll all take autonomous cars for granted.
“We know exactly what to do and we’ll be there in a few years,” Musk says. Yet he acknowledges that although freeway driving and driving under 10 mph are (relatively) easy problems to solve, “in between is hard,” especially in suburban areas where there are children playing, roadworks and other unexpected obstacles.
Huang was keen to explore what Tesla’s big announcement will be on Thursday, something Musk has described as providing “an end to range anxiety.”
But Musk was tight lipped, though he did explain how Tesla’s software system is like the human brain in only using a small part of its capacity. The company’s ability to offer regular software updates allows the Model S performance to continually improve over time.
“The first thing we want to do is establish the hardware platform, make sure we have the sensors and computing power, even though the software is only taking advantage of a small percentage of the sensors’ compute power and we do continuous updates to make the car more and more capable. We’re going to see a lot of that happen later this year. If I didn’t have an announcement Thursday, I’d be saying a lot more,” Elon Musk
Road Blocks
Is Musk concerned about big government thwarting big advances in autonomous vehicles?
Not in the least. He appreciates that where public safety is concerned, a cautious approach is necessary and he anticipates that a green light will come from regulatory authorities approximately two years after autonomous driving teams prove their vehicles are safer than humans.
“Regulators will want to see a large amount of statistical proof…but the evidence will be overwhelming,” says Musk. He even anticipates that one day (in the far future), humans driving cars may be illegal because, after all, “You can’t have a person driving a two-ton death machine.”
Chelsea Sexton is famous – among electric car fans – for her role in the documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?” I caught up with Sexton at this summer’s Plug-In Conference in Silicon Valley and she emphasized the importance of “getting butts in seats” – electric vehicle seats that is – in order to expand the adoption of EVs.
An employee of GM, Sexton was part of the L.A. team tasked with leasing the first commercial electric vehicle: the EV1. When GM decided to recall the car, she became a vocal opponent of the recall, but that didn’t stop the company crushing the majority of the fleet. It’s an episode in EV history that makes quite Tesla’s Elon Musk emotional (see @39:25 in our in-depth interview).
Today, Sexton is an outspoken advocate for the development and expansion of the electric vehicles market, and helped launch the Automotive X Prize. Here are some highlights of our conversation:
The rationale is that the more people who experience the acceleration and performance of electric cars, the more people will buy them. Programs like Experience Electric and National Drive Electric Week (Sept 15-21) are tackling this challenge.
On why she loves electric vehicles
“I love torque more than anyone rightfully should…that experience of off-the-line speed, and racing one car against the other…that’s torque. Bill Nye jokes that I have a lead foot…I have a lithium foot.”
Sexton used her “lithium foot” during a Wired Magazine assignment in 2013, when she got to drive the all electric Yokohama HER-02 EV.
On where electric vehicles are today
“The last few years have been the giddy freshman – we finally have electric cars again – years and now we’re in the phase – the sophomore slump – where it’s time to dig into the less sexy nuts and bolts and infrastructure.”
On the future of electric cars
“I’d like to see them no longer a novelty. The next 5 years will determine what will happen…we hope to see more vehicle types and be less reliant on incentives and be more self-sustaining.”
On Tesla Motors
“It’s the most aspirational example of an electric car…Elon (Musk) is rocket man, so who’s not excited by that?”
Although Tesla began groundwork on a factory site in Reno, Nevada, progress has now halted. Last week, Nevada Senator, Harry Reid said, “I’m not sure they aren’t playing us.”
Meantime, California Governor, Jerry Brown is enthusiastically enticing the electric carmaker with offers of generous tax credits, employee training and fast track approvals.
Although some commentators say that the Golden State is too green to land the Tesla Factory, that hasn’t stopped State Senator Ted Gaines from remaining bullish. “I am very confident…innovators come to California because it’s unique,” Gaines said during a recent CNBC interview. “We want to fight for 6500 jobs and a $5 Billion investment.”
Mark Whitaker: My guests on Business Matters today are Song Seng Wun from CIMB Research in Singapore, and San Francisco’s Alison van Diggelen. Alison presents a program called Fresh Dialogues which is all about high tech… and all about green. Alison, we’re always keen to hear about what’s happening in Silicon Valley. What’s the latest?
van Diggelen: The thing I’m excited about today is the fight over the Tesla gigafactory. Tesla is the maker of an all-electric vehicle, an electric car called a Model S; and the CEO Elon Musk is wanting to build what he’s calling a Gigafactory, which is a giant factory to make billions of lithium-ion batteries. Five states in the United States (California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas) are fighting over the privilege of having this factory in their state. It’s going to produce over 6000 jobs and obviously be a huge boost for the local economy. So it’s quite interesting to see the fierce competition over this whole green expansion here.
Whitaker: So it’s pretty high stakes. Does that give an indication that green industry has really taken off in the United States?
van Diggelen: Well Elon Musk and his team have certainly found a good formula. They’ve produced a car that has had all the top ratings in all the consumer reports. His premise is: he’s not just doing it because he thinks electric vehicles are cool. He really has the big picture in mind: he’s focused on climate change and focused on reducing our carbon footprint.
He’s watching the ice melt in the polar caps and is concerned. So he’s really putting his money where his mouth is and saying: what can we do in the transport industry to make vehicles more electric and less carbon polluting?
Whitaker: Song Seng Wun in Singapore, are you convinced that electric cars are just round the corner?
Song Seng Wun: Here in Singapore there is certainly plenty push as far as government is concerned to ensure transportation is as green as possible and obviously, if we are able to get more cheaper, affordable cars…Singapore is probably the world’s most expensive, even for electric cars…it will be welcome here.
It’s about whether the technology involved in greening transportation can be expanded for use in other cars in manufacturing, in businesses as well, which, I suppose is what Singapore is all about: how to use existing technology for better use elsewhere to increase productivity? (Productivity) is the catchword of the day, of the year, perhaps decade, here in Singapore.
Whitaker: Alison, from what Song Seng is saying…That’s quite heartening from your point of view?
van Diggelen: Yes, it’s great to hear there is that focus on efficiency and sustainability…The Model S is between $70,000 and $100,000 here which obviously is a bit of a stretch for most of us, but what they plan is to have a third generation mass market car and this is where the Gigafactory is a key part of that. They’re planning to produce 500,000 of these all electric cars by 2020, so this is the grand strategy of making transport more electric and more energy efficient.
Listen to more of our BBC Business Matters discussion:
On the economics of Scottish independence: @26:00
On how to bring out the best in Parisian waiters @46:29
Check out other BBC Conversations on Fresh Dialogues:
I just finished a conference call with Elon Musk re Tesla Motors’ latest Q2 2014 financial results. Beyond the big headlines that Tesla is on track for over 35,000 deliveries in 2014 and expects to build more than 60,000 in 2015, here are highlights culled from @FreshDialogues Twitter feed and other attentive Tesla watchers, including @danahull & @katiefehren:
Tesla Gigafactory construction pad completed in Nevada, but halted: “Incentives are there… ball in court of Nevada Gov” says Elon Musk
@GovSandoval: Elon Musk says the ball is in your court, writes @danahull
Battery Technology will be next generation soon at TeslaMotors expect 1/3 more energy per cell thanks to Cathode Anode chemical improvements, battery geometry changes says elonmusk
The batteries that will come from Tesla’s gigafactory will have improvements in chemistry, higher energy density and optimized shape & size writes @katiefehren
TESLA factory upgrades are in process: creating “most advanced auto paint shop in the world” says elonmusk
On Tesla Motors in China
Demand for Tesla Model S in China is “off the charts” says elonmusk
China’s policy re charging stations specs and EV incentives not a problem “We expect to fit within sales tax exemptions” says elonmusk(Previously analysts speculated that Tesla’s cars, made in the US would not qualify for sales tax exemptions, so this is big news.)
On Tesla’s strict diet
Finally, Elon Musk admits #Tesla is on a diet: “losing 1/4lb here, 1/2 lb there” This weight loss impacts range TeslaMotors#ModelS#EV
On Climate Change
Awesome that Elon Musk still willing to bring it all back to carbon emissions and climate change. Despite wealth creation, & cool factor writes @katiefehren
On Tesla vs Apple (the comparisons won’t go away!)
Beyond the obvious detail that Google’s new car is all-electric (which Katie Fehrenbacher points out is important), we explored why driverless cars may one day contribute to a cleaner and more efficient transport sector. Find out how below…
Here’s a transcript of our conversation. It’s been edited for length and clarity. Listen from 18:27 at the BBC World Service.
Bithrey: Google is to start building its own fleet of self driving cars…Let’s bring in our guests, Alison van Diggelen in San Francisco and Alex Frangos in Hong Kong. Alison… have you seen any in your neighborhood…Google trying out their self driving cars?
van Diggelen: I’ve seen many on Highway 85 between Mountain View and San Jose. You see them a lot, but I haven’t seen this particular one. What is unique about this is that it only goes 25 mph and it’s built from the ground up…they’re going to be building about 100 of them and we’ll probably see them in and around Google, they’re going to use it between buildings on their campus. That is the plan.
But what’s exciting about it from my point of view – I cover cleantech – and the beauty of self driving cars is that it can be a more efficient way to transport us. Self driving cars can allow “platooning” so cars can convoy really close together, you can get more cars on the road and it can include car sharing. And here’s an interesting example: in the future, you may be able to rent a car, and you may not want do the autonomous self drive car, but you just call it up on your app and it can deliver itself to your door. And that to me is an interesting, futuristic view of what they one day may be able to do.
Bithrey: (laughter) It is indeed. There are critics who say that… they could make traffic worse, and urban sprawl worse because people won’t have to drive any more. It will tire them out less if they’re not having to drive themselves, and so they may be happy to make longer journeys in these and thus be more polluting.
van Diggelen: Yes, that’s a possibility, however, the interesting thing with this car is that it is an electric car, so again that’s a greener alternative to your internal combustion engine. Another advantage of autonomous cars…is that you can have parking lots where you take your car to the edge of the parking lot and say, “Go Park Yourself.” It will have sensors on the car and in parking spaces, so those cars will be able to pack themselves in much more efficiently, so a more efficient use of available space. I take your point about longer commutes, but there are greener aspects to it too.
Bithrey: Alex Frangos in Hong Kong, is this the type of thing you’d like to try out? Would you trust a driverless car?
Frangos: I’d trust it probably as much as I’d trust all the other crazies who are on the road with me. Saying it’s unsafe is only in comparison to how unsafe it already is on the road, given how terrible drivers can be in various countries of the world. The thing that is, not troubling, but would take the enjoyment out of driving and misses the point, especially in the US of why people drive: the freedom and control it gives people. Or at least a sense of freedom and control to go where they want and do what they want… make a spontaneous turn or what not.
Bithrey: It’s just a more advanced version of cruise control isn’t it?
Frangos: No, I think it’s much more than that because you’re giving up control to the computer. So it could be a great improvement in life, but it would change what driving means, especially to Americans.
Bithrey: Yes, it might be slightly strange just having a stop/go button and not having all the other things we’re used to inside a car. OK, we’ll be back with you both on Business Matters on the BBC World Service….
Want to hear the entire show at the BBC? Listen here
Other topics we cover:
On collaboration: a group of four authors have collaborated on a single novel called “Keeping Mum.” We ask them how it’s possible to keep such a large group focused on a single plot. @26:40
On Maya Angelou: “This will resonate not just for novelists but for business people too. ‘People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel’ (Maya Angelou)” @39:05
On Apple’s acquisition of Dr Dre’s Beats Electronics. Will it make Apple cooler? @45:56
Find out more about BBC conversations
In April, we discussed Apple’s green strategy (renewable energy supply, recycling iPods etc) on BBC Business Matters
Listen to my other appearances on BBC Business Matters re. how Fresh Dialogues began; the Dalai Lama in Silicon Valley; Scottish independence and much more.
Elon Musk: In the distant future, people may outlaw driving cars. It’s too dangerous. You can’t have a person driving a two-ton death machine. [laughter]
2014 Plugged-In Conference Plenary Session: 
By 
Mark Whitaker: My guests on Business Matters today are Song Seng Wun from CIMB Research in Singapore, and San Francisco’s Alison van Diggelen. Alison presents a program called 
van Diggelen: Yes, it’s great to hear there is that focus on efficiency and sustainability…The Model S is between $70,000 and $100,000 here which obviously is a bit of a stretch for most of us, but what they plan is to have a 
Alison van Diggelen @FreshDialogues
Dana Hull @danahull
Bithrey: (laughter) It is indeed. There are critics who say that… they could make traffic worse, and urban sprawl worse because people won’t have to drive any more. It will tire them out less if they’re not having to drive themselves, and so they may be happy to make longer journeys in these and thus be more polluting.
