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For one, contactless payment methods or apps seemed to ace the social distancing game, but Tesla took it up a notch introducing a humanoid robot up for any task its user commands. Be it picking up groceries, dog walks, or any command, just name it and the bot gets it. The purpose of the bot not only provides safety to its user during this era with contact being mankind’s greatest enemy but could be a reliable choice for the elderly, physically impaired, and even introverts. Interestingly, inside the company, the bot is called Optimus, which is the exact same name as the popular sci-fi Transformers character Optimus Prime. Although, the appearance of Tesla’s Optimus is the polar opposite of the sci-fi character. Not throwing an eerie vibe but Optimus looks like a close cousin of another supernatural fictional character called the ‘Slender Man’ with a black head. Yet, if both hands stretched straight it could look like Tesla’s logo with the black head fading in the dark. Adding a bit more spook, that black head might sync too well in the dark, almost making Optimus appear headless. A modern-day headless knight urban legend maybe? Think not with fingers crossed that this bot does not get those fingers chopped.

That aside, Tesla introduced Optimus to the world at its AI Day event, an event in which the company showcases artificial intelligence or technology that mimics human cognition. Surely Optimus seems to have grabbed most of the spotlight and is said to surf on the company’s expertise with automated machines in its plant with a dash of hardware and software that powers the company’s autopilot driver assistance software. But the question is, can Optimus perform tasks that are beyond menial tasks? To know that, an in-depth introduction of Optimus is much needed.

Optimus Can Serve Healthcare Applications when Combined with Neuralink?
When the technopreneurial tycoon Elon Musk said that he wants Tesla to be thought beyond an electric car maker company, he does indeed appear to be whisking efforts towards those goals. As the 5'8", 125 pounds Optimus could be a remarkable embodiment of those efforts and is here to save the day for those who dread grocery shopping, manual work or not to mention, the introverts. Much exaggeration? Fine, but ideally, the obvious fact is that the company is where it is today thanks to Mr.Musk’s evergreen will and his fellow associates who invest every effort in the faith of that will.

Mr.Musk initially noted that the groundbreaking wireless brain implant inside Optimus will be capable of curing any medical problem, including paralysis, anxiety, and addiction. According to Mr.Musk, this could highly fall true when Optimus and Neuralink come together. Meaning, Neuralink's gadget could enable telepathy and brain-AI interactions in addition to addressing brain-related medical ailments.

Since receiving healthcare at home is not only a convenience but a necessity as well. Given that not all individuals receive proper round-the-clock monitoring. This is exactly why bots such as Optimus draw a huge difference by taking care of manual tasks, and most importantly monitoring and informing related individuals during emergencies.

But with Mr.Musk’s already innovative healthcare service, Neuralink, brain-machine interference, that’s when the magic happens.

Tesla did say that Neuralink is developing a fully-implanted, wireless, high-channel-count, brain-machine interface (BMI) with the purpose of enabling persons with paralysis to directly use their neurological activity to manage computers and mobile devices with speed and ease. Consequently, once Neuralink's brain implant proves to be perfect and Tesla's Optimus is successful in communicating with a patient utilizing Neuralink, it might have enormous medical consequences for paralysis patients and others with serious health conditions in the future.

Optimus is said to additionally have a prototype set to set foot in the coming year but is currently being pitched as a non-automotive robotic use case for the company's work on neural networks and its Dojo advanced supercomputer. Optimus’ head will be implanted with the autopilot cameras that Tesla vehicles use to sense their surroundings, as well as a screen to show information and will be monitored inside by Tesla's Full Self-Driving computer. Mr.Musk claimed that Optimus will be reliable in catering to tasks that are unsafe, complex, or simply boring.

Since Mr.Musk had once warned about the possibilities of AI overpowering or overthrowing humanity, he assured that Optimus can be overpowered and even outrun when it comes to it. At the same time, he said that Optimus is optimized to have a walking gait of five miles per hour. This could either fetch those milk and eggs in a jiffy or give serious ‘being chased anxiety’. But betting on the fact that Optimus is said to be designed on a mechanical level, as Mr. Musk ensures that ‘you can run away from it’ and ‘most likely overpower it’. There again the words ‘you can run away from it’ seem to be lowkey implying that there are red flags flashing that chances of getting into serious business with Optimus are not zero.

"This may extend the scope of these two technologies beyond purely medical needs, such as powering and commanding a humanoid bot using only one's thoughts”, denotes Sai Balasubramanian, a physician and expert, clinical medicine, digital health and innovation, healthcare policy, and operational strategy.

He further went on to say that, “although much work remains to be done with both Neuralink and Tesla's AI-powered bot, the possibilities for these technologies, both individually and in combination, are both revolutionary and limitless. The efficacy, safety, and scalability of these improvements will be determined over time”.

Implanting Microchips into the Human Brain?
Mr.Musk's brain interface technology firm is called Neuralink. Cutting the complex talk, the developing technology that could be implanted in a person's brain, could both record and stimulate brain activity. Neuralink is working on a chip the size of a cent that would be implanted in a patient's skull. An array of tiny wires, each about 20 times thinner than a human hair, spread out from the chip and into the patient's brain.

The wires are fitted with 1,024 electrodes that can monitor brain activity as well as electrically stimulate the brain in theory. This information is wirelessly related to computers, where it can be analyzed by researchers. The robot is said to inject flexible wires coming from a Neuralink chip into an individual’s brain with a stiff needle, similar to a sewing machine.