This teaching assistant runs on more than lesson plans.
A rural school district in upstate New York is preparing to become one of the first in the country to place a humanoid robot inside a classroom.
The Salamanca City Central School District, which sits on Seneca Nation territory, announced last week that it will introduce “Sally,” a $57,000 AI-powered robot, into high school classes this September as a teaching assistant.
Designed with brown hair, latex skin and movable arms and hands, Sally will look the part — though she will not be roaming the room, since her legs are not built to move.
“It’s exciting but also a bit nerve wracking,” Superintendent Dr. Mark Beehler told The Post, describing the first-of-its-kind pilot program, which is being launched in partnership with Las Vegas-based Realbotix Corporation.
“Not everyone is open to much change in education,” Beehler said. “There was a point in time where people argued ‘Why do teachers need email accounts?’ or ‘Do we really need to have the internet in school?’ This is the next iteration of that. And the reality is, AI is already in schools.”
For now, Sally is expected to work with 11th and 12th graders at Salamanca High School, assisting in coding, robotics and artificial intelligence courses.
To help students feel more comfortable, the district requested that Sally speak with a western New York accent — one similar to that of Buffalo native Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“We don’t really hear the accent. We think it sounds neutral,” Beehler joked.
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The bot, which uses about the same amount of electricity as a laptop, will assistant students and teachers in classes that are in the Woz Ed Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics courses, which was developed by the founder of Apple Steve Wozniak.
In September she will be available for only coding, robotics, and AI classes, according to Beehler.
School officials vowed that “Sally” will “never” usher out teachers.
“The Realbotix educational robot will never replace teachers, staff members, or meaningful human interaction,” the district said in a statement.
“Instead, it serves as another instructional tool that educators can use to engage students, reinforce classroom learning, and spark curiosity about emerging technologies.”
There will be many guardrails on Sally which operates on an off-line, closed AI system that is designed not to give answer, but to respond with prompts to students questions.
“It will provide data but will encourage the student to think for themselves and demonstrate a comprehension of the material,” said Beeher.
“Sally” will not collect any personal information, record any video or audio, and will not transmit any data to Realbotix, the superintendent assured.
The more advanced $125,000 full-bodied F-Series model from Realbotix stands on its own two legs, but still requires wheels to get around.
The city of Salamanca is on the Allegany Indian Reservation, which is roughly 60 miles south of Buffalo, and is governed by the Seneca Nation of Indians.
The district has approximately 1,400 registered students, with over 32% identifying as American Indian, according to the state Education Department.
