New York School District Plans To Bring Humanoid Teacher Robot Into The Classroom

A rural New York school district intends to deploy a humanoid robot teaching assistant into the classroom this fall amid a debate over the place of artificial intelligence (AI) in education.

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The Salamanca City Central School District (SCCSD) decided to buy the artificial intelligence-powered robot from Realbotix, an AI and technology company, at a school board meeting last month, according to the New York Focus. The Western New York district, located on a Seneca reservation, will cash out $57,590 for the robot and an AI program that will enable students to engage with an avatar of the robot on their laptops, district reveal. The district’s move has faced criticism from people and at least one education-focused group.

The female humanoid, designated as “Sally,” will have silicone skin and long brown hair, Realbotix CEO Andrew Kiguel told the outlet. He said the robot will remain seated but can make a wide range of facial expressions and gestures during lessons. The humanoid will start by instructing 11th and 12th grade students in coding, robotics, and AI classes, the New York Post reported.

Salamanca Superintendent Mark Beehler told the outlet the decision was “exciting but also a bit nerve-wracking.”

“There was a point in time where people argued, ‘Why do teachers need email accounts?’ or ‘Do we really need to have the internet in school?’ This is the next iteration of that. And the reality is, AI is already in schools,” Beehler claimed.

The school district promised that the robot “will never replace teachers, staff members, or meaningful human interaction” in a statement released on the Salamanca High School website.

The school district emphasized that the robot would not collect personal information, record video or audio, or send data back to Realbotix. The district also said the robot is trained on school curriculum and has “extensive safety guardrails” in place for redirecting inappropriate conversations.

Students will reportedly be able to interact with the avatar of the robot both during and after school hours. They could submit pictures of their homework and ask for feedback, request that the avatar create lessons on different topics, or receive translations in more than 100 languages, Kiguel told New York Focus.

Each student can also log in to the robot with a unique identification code that will enable it to reference their past communication to provide personalized support, the CEO said. (RELATED: Brown Professor Warns AI Is Making Students Dumber After Cheating Scandal)

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A local parent expressed disapproval of the move, according to the New York Focus. “We already have so many issues in our community, including environmental issues. I just don’t understand the concept of adding AI onto that,” Sierra Abrams said. “Bringing it into the school district is contradicting everything we believe, in my opinion.”

“The robot is going to take away from student-to-teacher connections. Instead of the student going to a teacher for help, the student will just be asking a robot for help instead,” a Facebook user wrote in response to the school district’s post about the new robot.

Another user, whose profile says he attended Salamanca High School, alleged that he didn’t even recall the measure being voted on. “By all the pretty mad posts, im assuming im not the only one who wasnt aware of the vote to move this forward for our students.”

The Alliance for Quality Education (AQE), a New York organization, argued that the district’s decision served as another example of “underserved students” becoming “guinea pigs for untested ‘innovation’ in education.”

“The years when children are developing socially, emotionally, and academically are not years we can afford to outsource to a robot, no matter how human it looks,” the AQE said in their statement.

A 2024 Association for Computing Machinery study focused on social-AI robots used for teaching indicated that parents and educators continue to have concerns about humanoid impacts on children’s physical and psychological safety, privacy, and social and emotional development. Parents and educators also expressed concerns about children developing overreliance on the robot, citing “worries about laziness caused by the robot” that might prevent “children from being innovative and independent thinkers,” according to the study.

The robot marks a shift for Realbotix. The company bought Simulcra, which owned RealDoll — a firm whose sex robots are still on the market — in 2024, according to the New York Focus. A Realbotix spokeswoman told the outlet that the firm has constructed a new team around education and health care applications and that they are seeking ownership separation from RealDoll.

The SCCSD forwarded a press release in response to the Daily Caller’s request for comment. The Caller also reached out to Realbotix for comment.

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