The Robot Was a Guy in a Suit
Elon Musk once unveiled a prototype humanoid robot that turned out to be a dancer in a costume. His more recent demonstrations are closer—but still not quite there. Read about some other examples of companies faking demonstrations of their not-quite-ready products, then discuss with your team: should companies be required to tell people when demos are slightly or entirely rigged?
Key concepts
- Teleoperation
- A hidden human driving the machine live, through a remote control or a headset. The hardware is genuinely there; only the autonomy — the thing being claimed — is a person offstage.
+ 1 more concept inside
Every work — at a glance
-
Tesla Bot Reveal (Dancer in a Bodysuit) — Tesla (demonstration)
At Tesla's 2021 AI Day, where a launch would normally show a prototype, Musk announced a humanoid robot and then sent out a human dancer in a white bodysuit — and the announcement worked anyway.
+ 1 more work explained inside
What to know
-
01
What other companies have faked a demonstration? Faking runs on a spectrum. Steve Jobs launched the 2007 iPhone on prototypes so unstable that engineers wrote him a 'golden path' of actions to follow in order, with the signal bars rigged to show full service — a real product, lightly staged. Google's 2018 assistant phoned a hair salon live on stage, and reporters could not find the salon.
+ 1 more insight inside
Across subjects
Theme connection
"Are We There Yet?"
Practice — a sample
SOCSelling the promise of a product that isn't built yet is MOST like —
- A Renting a finished flat
- B Selling a used car
- C Selling an unbuilt house
- D Leasing a working machine
- E Auctioning real art
Sign in to answer and see why each option is right or wrong.
Keep reading the full lesson
The remaining insights, works, and practice come with full access — $9.99/month or $29.99/season.
Unlock full access →New here? Create a free account to read the free section.