The Salamanca City Central School District in western New York is preparing to introduce a humanoid robot named Sally to assist in teaching high school students this fall. This initiative, part of a broader AI integration, will see Sally, created by AI and robotics company Realbotix, utilized in AI, coding, and robotics courses at Salamanca High School. The robot, which costs the district over $50,000, is designed to move its arms and hands and engage in natural conversation with facial expressions and real-time interaction.
Superintendent Mark Beehler described the rollout as "exciting but also a bit nerve wracking," acknowledging that not everyone is open to significant changes in education. He drew parallels to past skepticism surrounding the adoption of email and internet access in schools, stating, "This is the next iteration of that." Beehler emphasized that AI is already present in educational settings and defended the move, which involves a pilot program costing $57,590 according to an agreement published on the school board's agenda.
The curriculum for the courses where Sally will be used was developed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. In response to a request from the school district, Sally will speak with a western New York accent. "We think it sounds neutral," Beehler commented on the accent.
If the pilot program proves successful, the district plans to expand its use to other high school classes. Beehler stated that Sally will provide data while encouraging students to think independently and demonstrate comprehension. The robot will operate on an offline, closed AI system, and will not collect personal information, record audio or video, or transmit data to Realbotix. Student interactions will require unique identification codes, allowing Sally to access learning data and offer personalized support based on past conversations.
Andrew Kiguel, CEO of Realbotix, explained how students could engage with the robot, saying, "'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?'"
The district has stressed that Sally is "absolutely not" replacing teachers and that the pilot program is designed to support both educators and students. A statement from the district clarified that human relationships and quality instruction remain central to education. They also rejected comparisons to ChatGPT, explaining that Sally's knowledge is limited to the curriculum intentionally loaded into its system. The robot has extensive safety guardrails, preventing discussions on inappropriate topics such as violence, gambling, and sex, and will redirect such conversations to educational subjects.