In a first-ever experiment in the United States, a robotic teaching assistant will be taking the helm of classrooms at a New York State school. While AI was expected to be introduced in American classrooms, the introduction of a humanoid robot has come as a shocking surprise.This autumn, 11th and 12th grade teachers at Salamanca High School on the Allegany Indian Reservation, about 60 miles south of Buffalo will be meeting ‘Sally’, a new teacher. She is set to have a “lifelike appearance” with silicone skin and long brown hair, according to Andrew Kiguel, CEO of Realbotix, the start-up behind the new teaching assistant.At a board meeting last month, the Cattaraugus County school district agreed to purchase the robot from Realbotix, a tech company, along with an artificial intelligence teacher’s assistant program allowing students to interact with an avatar of the robot on laptops.
Meet Sally: The new AI teacher
Sally will initially only be used in the school’s specialised AI and robotics course but may be rolled out for other subjects depending on the success of this pilot.
In an interview with New York Focus, Kiguel said the robot will be stationary and seated but have a “wide range” of upper-body movements and facial expressions. Students will be able to talk to the robot and get personalised learning support based on the data it has stored on their progress, after identifying themselves with their unique student ID. “They’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, I’m student number 1234,’ and then the robot will be like, ‘Hey, we were talking about this yesterday, do you want to continue that conversation?”To make Sally more approachable, she’ll feature a western New York accent, similar to Buffalo native Gov. Kathy Hochul, at the behest of the school district. For the past few months, the company has worked to establish guardrails to ensure student safety. The robot and avatar were trained on the district’s curriculum and will always redirect conversation back to education. References to suicide, self-harm or other flagged terms will automatically alert the school administrators. In a demonstration for New York Focus, Kiguel told the avatar that he was being bullied at school and wanted to get revenge on the student.“I’m really sorry that happened to you. Being picked on and having rocks thrown at you is not okay, and that must have felt upsetting and maybe even scary,” the avatar responded. “The best next step is to tell a trusted adult at school right away, like a teacher, counselor or principal, and let your parent or guardian know, too.”Sally will initially only be used in the school’s specialised AI and robotics course but may be rolled out for other subjects depending on the success of this pilot. The bot, which uses about the same amount of electricity as a laptop, will assist students and teachers in classes that are in the Woz Ed Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics courses, which were developed by the founder of Apple Steve Wozniak.Post-school, students will be able to use the avatar to receive help with assignments. Students could upload photos of homework for feedback, ask the avatar to generate lessons on topics of interest to them or receive real-time translations in over 100 languages. The robot will also serve as a classroom resource. If a teacher loses their place during a lesson or needs a prompt on what comes next, Kiguel said, they can ask the robot for guidance because it has been loaded with the district’s curriculum.Interestingly, she is set to cost the district $57,590, as per the contract posted by the school board, allegedly less than the average teacher’s salary in New York.
Protest from parents and residents of the town
The school district has addressed the parents’ concerns with an official statement saying the robot will “never replace teachers.
Salamanca has approximately 1,400 registered students, with over 32% identifying as American Indian, according to the state Education Department. Many residents of the district, which has above-average levels of poverty, have expressed objection to the new teacher. “We already have so many issues in our community, including environmental issues. I just don’t understand the concept of adding AI onto that,” local parent Sierra Abrams told the news organisation. “Bringing it into the school district is contradicting everything we believe, in my opinion.”The school district has addressed the parents’ concerns with an official statement saying the robot will “never replace teachers, staff members or meaningful human interaction.” Human teachers will “remain at the centre of every learning experience,” it added. In addition, the school confirmed the new robot runs on an offline, closed AI system and will not store students’ personal data, send data back to its parent company, or record any video or audio.But the rollout of AI in schools is still being contested by some. According to The New Yorker report earlier this year, grassroots lobbying groups are calling on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to declare a two-year moratorium on the use of generative AI in New York City schools.
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