Tesla’s Model 3 Factory: No Humans Necessary...
Elon Musk: Tesla’s Model 3 factory could look like an
alien warship
By Brian Fung August 4
For decades, a big trend in manufacturing has been the
gradual automation of the factory floor. Robots play a major role in making
advanced products today — they're fast, clean and efficient. But Tesla chief
executive Elon Musk wants to take this to a whole new level with the factory
producing the upcoming, low-cost Model 3, turning "the machine that makes
the machine" into an "alien dreadnought."
Not literally. The factory isn't going to become
self-aware and turn on its masters; after all, Musk is an avowed skeptic of the
kind of general artificial intelligence that could enable killer machines. But
the term "alien dreadnought," Musk told analysts on a conference call
Wednesday, refers to what the factory will look like once it's fully developed
in around five years. Its visage will likely inspire something between wonder
and terror.
"It's like, 'What the hell is that?'" said
Musk.
The machine will ultimately be so complex that no humans
will be expected to operate it directly, or to participate in the actual
building of each Model 3.
"You really can't have people in the production line
itself," said Musk. "Otherwise you'll automatically drop to people
speed." (He didn't elaborate on how much faster these machines will be
able to work.)
With Tesla coming under increasing pressure to meet its
production targets, Musk's factory will need to move at much greater than
"people speed" if it wants to satisfy demand. There'll still be
people working in the factory, though, mostly overseeing the robots and making
sure everything is running at peak efficiency.
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