A New York high school is getting an AI robot assistant. Parents and teachers have concerns

Some students and teachers in New York will return to classrooms equipped with a strange-looking — and perhaps unwelcome — artificial intelligence assistant next September.

The Salamanca City Central School District, located approximately 60 miles south of Buffalo, has signed a Contract worth $57,590 (PDF) With robotics startup Realbotix to introduce AI and humanoid robot tools in select technology classes at Salamanca City Central High School.

The robot, named Sally (pictured above), is one of Realbotix’s M series models. It is designed to mimic the human appearance, with silicone skin and a wide range of facial movements, although it is limited to a fixed sitting position.

the Realbotix press release The bot “uses natural conversation, facial expressions and real-time interaction” to encourage student engagement, he says. Students will be assigned personal ID numbers to interact with the robot, which will remember and respond to learning data and previous questions.

In addition to its robotic teaching assistant Sally, Realbotix is ​​integrating its Optio AI model into the school district to serve as an at-home tutor for around-the-clock homework support. The company says both Sally and Optio are designed with education-specific safety barriers.

The human teachers will remain in the robotics classrooms at Salamanca Central High School, where they will be expected to do most of the teaching and monitor the robot’s responses to students.

Optio will initially be available to high school students in artificial intelligence and robotics classes, with plans to expand the program to 500 students in the fall.

“Many schools take the easy solution of banning AI, but I have found that students will find a way around most of the rules the schools set,” Mark Beller, superintendent of the Salamanca Central District, said last week in a statement. Written response to a Syracuse.com journalist. “I also think it’s crucial that schools teach the proper use of technology, not just dismiss it.”

The news sparked opposition from the teachers union and some community members.

“The future of education does not depend on more artificial intelligence,” New York State Teachers Federation President Melinda Pearson told CNET in a written statement. “It’s a more authentic human intelligence: more relationships, more mentorship, and more opportunities for each child to see, know, and be inspired by a great teacher.”

Local parent Sierra Abrams responded to A Facebook post area About the partnership, he described the technology as an inappropriate imposition.

“We already have a lot of issues in our society, including environmental issues,” she wrote. “I don’t understand the concept of adding artificial intelligence to that.”

Artificial intelligence in education

Schools have been grappling with the risks and promise of generative AI tools since ChatGPT burst onto the scene nearly four years ago, due to issues ranging from cheating to phishing. Cognitive development to the need to provide students with training for jobs that will have artificial intelligence at their core. The rapid changes have galvanized grassroots parent-teacher groups, including… Area 14 Human Learning Families and Coalition for an Amnesty International Moratoriumto petition state lawmakers to impose a two-year pause on AI integration in K-12 classrooms.

At the same time, the Trump administration has taken a positive stance towards adopting artificial intelligence in education. US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon Confirm Integrating artificial intelligence is a major priority for her department, which has allocated millions of dollars to achieve this goal.

First Lady Melania Trump has too Advocate AI in the classroomappearing at a summit with an AI-powered educational bot named Plato to promote it Be the first: Enhancing the Future initiative. At that event, she talked about placing AI-powered robots in children’s homes to “aid them with education” and “enhance analytical and problem-solving skills.”

More broadly, President Trump has done so He gave his full support Behind American artificial intelligence companies. In December, for example, he signed an agreement Executive order Designed to deter state governments from creating “burdensome legislation” that could hinder the construction of AI data centers or the development of MBAs.

Teachers and robots

The Salamanca Central School District is part of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak’s Woz Ed STEM curriculum program, which focuses on science and technology education. Aside from spending money on contracts like the Realbotix integration, the district offers activities including a drone and robotics camp and free access to Makerspace for students.

The district is located on the Allegany Indian Reservation and serves 1,300 students. Nearly one-third of the student body is Indigenous. According to US Census BureauSalamanca has above average levels of poverty. New York Focus reports Nearly four in five of the region’s students are economically disadvantaged — and critics worry that incorporating AI into schools will disenfranchise students in the already disadvantaged region.

An NYU spokesperson said via email that details of the contract between the Salamanca Central School District and Realbotix were not shared with teachers prior to the announcement, and that the superintendent instructed staff to report their concerns to him rather than taking them to social media.

“Teachers were not consulted about the placement of this AI robot, and the contract could (instead) employ two actual human teaching assistants in the district’s classrooms,” the spokesperson wrote.

“The program aims to complement teachers, not replace them, by giving students supervised access to emerging AI and robotics tools as part of the district’s existing STEM curriculum,” a Realbotix spokesperson told CNET via email.

A representative of the Salamanca Central School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Our students are not lab rats.”

Then there is the technology itself. While LLM-powered chatbots can sift through large amounts of information to create answers, articles, and more in a matter of seconds, they are also prone to errors and distortions, known as hallucinations.

Beehler, district supervisor, He told New York Fox That the combined MBA will answer questions with “I don’t know” rather than hallucinate the students to answer. However, it is not clear how a large language model can determine that it is about to rave about the answer.

The teachers union has objected to aspects of the technology and the company that was tapped to provide it.

“Our students are not guinea pigs. They should not be treated as such,” an NYU spokesperson wrote. “There are serious concerns about this technology, its implementation and how Realbotix sold it to district administration in the first place. Salamanca should not be a launching pad for another company to try to sell a new tool that districts don’t need, especially a company with Realbotix’s background.”

numerous Media Reports Realbotix has linked Realbotix to adult products company RealDoll, which produces highly realistic adult robotic toys. RealDoll is a subsidiary of Simulcra, which was acquired by Realbotix in 2024.

A Realbotix spokesperson told CNET that there is no relationship between RealDoll and the team working on Sally.

“Realbotix LLC focuses exclusively on non-adult commercial applications, including healthcare and education,” the spokesperson wrote. “No adult product company is involved in the Salamanca Project or in any product developed by Realbotix LLC.”

Realbotix and RealDoll do not share employees, salaries, physical locations or technology, New York Focus reports. The publication also reported that Realbotix plans to divest itself of RealDoll by the time Sally is implemented in Salamanca’s classrooms.