{"id":567761,"date":"2026-07-25T16:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T16:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/567761\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T16:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T16:22:11","slug":"really-inappropriate-teachers-decry-plan-for-humanoid-robot-in-new-york-high-school-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/567761\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Really inappropriate\u2019: teachers decry plan for humanoid robot in New York high school | New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

A humanoid robot is being introduced as part of a pilot program, along with an AI teaching assistant, at Salamanca high school in Salamanca, New York, located <\/a>on the Allegany territory of the Seneca nation.<\/p>\n

Teachers have criticized the program, deeming it \u201cinappropriate\u201d and claiming it dehumanizes the profession with the introduction of human-like robots. Some local Native American residents have also criticized the pilot program, citing its implementation as \u201cculturally tone deaf\u201d.<\/p>\n

The robot, named Sally, was purchased by the Cattaraugus county school district \u2013 which includes Salamanca high school \u2013 for $57,590. According to a presentation<\/a> on the program, Sally will be a closed-loop system, but available virtually to students 24\/7 for those with access, and offers personalized learning options.<\/p>\n

The district will be the first in the US to deploy a humanoid robot and AI teaching assistant, according to a press release <\/a>by Realbotix.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Salamanca pilot also includes deployment of a Realbotix M-Series humanoid robot, which uses natural conversation, facial expressions and real-time interaction to create engaging, hands-on learning experiences,\u201d the press release states.<\/p>\n

Realbotix, formerly Tokens.com, a Toronto-based company, purchased <\/a>Simulacra<\/a>, a Las Vegas-based company known for realistic sex dolls, for $16.7m in April 2024, marking a pivot for the company from crypto to humanoid robots.<\/p>\n

Realbotix has denied ties to the sex doll company, and denied any inferences that the dolls \u2013 manufactured by Abyss Creations, a subsidiary of Realbotix \u2013 are related to the pilot program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Salamanca teachers\u2019 union as a whole is concerned about the background of the company of Realbotix. We\u2019re very concerned about the security of the software that they\u2019re implementing, and whether or not the data will be stored, how it will be gathered, are the recording capabilities,\u201d said Lacey Pihlblad, president of Salamanca Teachers\u2019 Association and a teacher at the high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to see the school district pause implementing the robot, pause implementing the software aspect of this AI technology until we can have more individuals weigh in.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said New York<\/a> state is currently shifting away from too much technology in the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a growing consensus that indicates our students should be exposed to less technology. Placing a humanoid robot into the classroom to interact with our children, I believe, is a massive step in the wrong direction, and I believe that the majority of our teachers feel the same.\u201d she added. \u201cIf we\u2019re going to do something of this magnitude, I feel we need to make sure that we do it the correct way, and I\u2019m not sure that that\u2019s currently what\u2019s in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pihlblad said the union was completing negotiations for a new union contract and intend to include protections around artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

Melinda Person, president of the New York State United Teachers, the parent union<\/a> of the Salamanca Teachers\u2019 Association, which represents teachers at the high school, told the Guardian that teachers across the state are concerned about the robot program.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur members in Salamanca and educators across the state are sounding the alarm that this is really inappropriate,\u201d said Person. \u201cI would say our initial reaction is this is kind of creepy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Person said it was \u201cway out of the realm of what we should be doing in our schools\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe answer to the challenges in education is not more screens, it\u2019s not more algorithms, not more robots. What we need in our schools right now are more caring adults and more human connection,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said teachers were not anti-technology, but rather pro-child, and take positions based on whether something is beneficial for students.<\/p>\n

\u201cPutting a lifeless machine in front of students is a bad idea,\u201d she said. \u201cI would say a machine that the intention of it is to simulate a human relationship with young people who are just learning those skills of how to interact, how to be with their peers, how to solve conflicts, and putting a robot that looks like a human that will lead to the dehumanization of the profession of education, is exactly the wrong thing for us to be doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local residents have also criticized the selection of a high school with a significant Native American population to serve as the testing ground for humanoid robots in the classroom. Nearly 40%<\/a> of the high school\u2019s student body are Native Americans.<\/p>\n

The Seneca nation declined to comment to the Guardian.<\/p>\n

\u201cOut of all the schools in New York state, let alone in the US, they chose to experiment on Native American children yet again,\u201d said Sierra May Abrams, a substitute teacher at Salamanca high school and local resident. \u201cOur culture is struggling to stay alive due to the impact of the Native American boarding schools<\/a> and what they did to our elders. We live on the only reservation located in a city so it\u2019s just absolutely insane that we\u2019re the ones \u2018testing it out\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alyson Brown, a community health specialist and local resident and Seneca nation member who graduated from Salamanca, said several students have connections to the traumas of Native American boarding schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany students have connections to relatives who attended the Thomas Indian school located on our Cattaraugus territory. Many native families are viewing this pilot program as history repeating itself,\u201d said Brown. \u201cI see nothing positive to come from this being introduced in the classroom setting. I worry for the cognitive development of young minds in this exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Realbotix did not comment on criticisms from teachers and Native American residents or the call for a pause from the Salamanca Teachers\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cRealbotix and Salamanca city central school district announced a limited pilot for fall 2026 involving Optio, an AI-powered educational assistant, and one new Realbotix M-Series humanoid unit,\u201d the spokesperson said by email.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe program is intended to complement, not replace, teachers by giving students supervised access to emerging AI and robotics tools as part of the district\u2019s existing Stem [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] curriculum. The partnership also gives educators an opportunity to evaluate these technologies in a controlled classroom environment under district oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Salamanca city central school district and superintendent Mark Beehler did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n

The assistant commissioner of public affairs for the New York state department of education, JP O\u2019Hare, said the agency had been in contact with the school district regarding its purchase of a robot \u201cand has raised serious concerns about student privacy, appropriate safeguards, and the risk that the robot could be used to perform functions that should remain the responsibility of trained, qualified professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnology can and should support educators and students, but it should not replace the human judgment or accountability essential to a safe and effective learning environment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A humanoid robot is being introduced as part of a pilot program, along with an AI teaching assistant,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567762,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[220,218,219,61,60,80],"class_list":["post-567761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}