Elon Musk is certainly no stranger to unique and strange antics, but recent social media posts have raised eyebrows among even his most dedicated followers.
Musk, 51, has been increasingly in the spotlight over the past few months, especially following his $44 billion purchase of social media platform Twitter back in October. This was met with an immensely chaotic period for the tech company.
But even though he is the owner of the platform, that hasn't stopped the billionaire from also being an avid user - frequently tweeting his thoughts to his 140 million followers.
And one subject that appears to be on Musk's mind is of the ever-growing sophistication of artificial intelligence (AI), with the SpaceX founder tweeting earlier this month: "Even benign dependency on AI/Automation is dangerous to civilization if taken so far that we eventually forget how the machines work."
Now, bizarre images circulating online have appeared to show Elon Musk kissing robots. However, there is more to the images - which depict Musk locking lips with several female-looking humanoids - than initially meets the eye.
Twitter user David Marven - CEO of a South African construction company - published the images to his account, writing: "Elon Musk announces the future wife, who is she?"
The tweet continued: "It is the first robot that has been manufactured specifically designed with artificial intelligence, with the personality and the characteristics of the female that he dreams of…which is not found in any normal person, because of course, there is no normal person that has all the required specifications."
He then went on to explain how the robot (named 'Catnilla') is actually solar-powered, and therefore does not need to be charged. It is also apparently "equipped with sensory means that make her feel sad and happy." Not only this: "She has a balanced and interactive mindset … so she can share it if she is in a crisis or the feelings that she is experiencing or needs when she is exposed to any psychological stress."
Marven then concluded the tweet by adding that the bizarre photos were actually fake, and had been created using artificial intelligence, which he did so in an effort to "clarify the dangers of AI."
Naturally, Twitter users couldn't help but comment on the images, with one person writing: "At least [I know] when I cheat I can just press cntrl alt delete so they can reset and forget. Saving me some headache [sic]."
"So he goes around making babies but at the end he want to settle with a robot, typical man," another person added.
While the photos of Musk were purely created for comedic value, there have been genuine concerns about the prevalence of AI and how it could potentially affect us in numerous ways.
But this is a subject Musk has long attempted to warn us all about, with the billionaire saying in a 2017 interview that government regulation of AI is a necessity due to the "fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization".
