New York district pauses humanoid classroom robot plan

A rural upstate New York school district has paused plans to deploy “Sally,” an AI-powered humanoid robot from Realbotix, after objections from state education officials, unionized teachers and residents. The Salamanca City Central School District board had approved the nearly $60,000 purchase to support high school robotics and technology programs, with Superintendent Mark Beehler saying students could use it to explore programming, maintenance, approved content updates and troubleshooting.

Concerns centered on student data privacy, the robot’s classroom role and Realbotix’s ties to a sister company connected to RealDoll, a maker of sex dolls. State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa questioned why a board presentation described the robot as a “tutoring platform” after the district said it would not deliver instruction. New York State United Teachers President Melinda Person said students need relationships with caring adults, not robots.

The district said the pilot will remain on hold while it works on “enhanced student data privacy agreements” with state officials and continues community outreach. Salamanca officials said “Sally” would not collect personal information, record audio or video, send data to Realbotix, search the public internet or use unvetted generative AI services. Realbotix said the unit was purpose-built for education, with encrypted student-linked information controlled by the district.