New York School District Pauses Humanoid Robot Teacher Plan
A New York school district purchased a humanoid robot from Realbotix for classroom use but paused the pilot program after teachers, their union, and local Native American residents criticized the deployment as inappropriate and culturally insensitive, raising concerns about the company's background and data security practices.
What happened
Cattaraugus County School District in New York purchased a humanoid robot named Sally from Realbotix for $57,590 as part of a pilot program at Salamanca High School, located on Allegany territory of the Seneca nation. The robot was intended to function as a teaching assistant alongside an AI system, offering personalized learning and virtual availability to students.
Realbotix is a Toronto-based company that acquired Simulacra, a Las Vegas-based company known for realistic sex dolls, in April 2024 for $16.7 million, marking a pivot from cryptocurrency to humanoid robots. The company has denied ties between its acquired sex doll subsidiary Abyss Creations and the educational robot program.
Reported impact
Teachers at Salamanca High School and the Salamanca Teachers' Association criticized the program as 'really inappropriate' and expressed concern that it dehumanizes the teaching profession. Local Native American residents also criticized the pilot program as 'culturally tone deaf'.
Teachers raised concerns about the company's background, software security, data storage and recording capabilities. The union called for the district to pause implementation of both the robot and the AI software technology until further stakeholder review, citing a state shift toward reducing classroom technology.
Governance controls
The school district paused the pilot program in response to backlash from teachers, the union, and local Native American community members.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.