This School District Will Bring a Humanoid Robot Into the Classroom This Fall

When students return to school this fall in the Salamanca City Central School District in Western New York, a new kind of teacher will be ready to greet them. The small, rural district located on the Seneca Nation reservation is set to be one of the first in the country to put a humanoid robot in a classroom. It will not replace the classroom teacher, but is programmed to provide learning support to both students and educators.

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.

“This deployment in a working school district represents a landmark moment for both AI and humanoid robotics,” said Andrew Kiguel, CEO of Realbotix, which is currently building the robot. “Salamanca marks the beginning of a new era where humanoid robots and intelligent AI assistants become standard tools in STEM education.”

The female robot, named Sally, will have a “lifelike appearance” with silicone skin and long brown hair, Kiguel said in an interview with New York Focus. It will be stationary in a seated position but have a wide range of upper-body movements and facial expressions.

Students will use a unique identification code when interacting with the robot during class, allowing it to access their learning data and provide personalized support based on their past communication with the avatar, Kiguel said. “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?”

Salamanca plans to introduce the robot and avatar in its high school AI and robotics courses, which use curriculum developed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to prepare students for high-demand tech jobs. The district plans to expand it to high school students in other classes if the pilot is successful.

Salamanca Superintendent Mark Beehler explained the district’s embrace of AI. “Many schools are taking the easy solution of simply banning it, but I have found that students will find a way around most rules that schools put in place,” Beehler said in a written response to questions. “I also believe it is critical for schools to teach proper use of technology, not simply exclude it.”

During and after school hours, students will be able to use the avatar to receive help with assignments. Kiguel said students could upload photos of homework for feedback, ask the avatar to generate lessons on topics that interest them, or receive real-time translations in over 100 languages. Unlike other Realbotix robots, Salamanca’s robot will not have advanced features such as facial recognition and recording.

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.

The products cost the district $57,590, according to the contract attached to the school board agenda. Kiguel said the price was discounted; the company’s website lists the M-Series robot, the model purchased by the district, at a starting price of $95,000.

The plan has sparked debate online, with some calling it a forward-looking, innovative step for the district and others expressing concern about the broader implications of further integrating AI into schools, particularly in an underserved area.

Salamanca is the only incorporated city in the United States located entirely within a Native American reservation. The school district serves roughly 1,300 students, including 32 percent who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native and 79 percent who are economically disadvantaged.

“We already have so many issues in our community, including environmental issues. I just don’t understand the concept of adding AI onto that,” said local parent Sierra Abrams, who learned about the technology in a district Facebook post. “Bringing it into the school district is contradicting everything we believe, in my opinion.”

For the past few months, the company has worked to establish guardrails to ensure student safety. Kiguel said the robot and avatar were trained on the district’s curriculum and will always redirect the conversation back to education. References to suicide, self-harm, or other flagged terms would automatically alert 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.”

Beehler emphasized the importance of safety and privacy, noting that the robot and avatar operate on a closed system that is not connected to the internet, and that Realbotix will not have access to personally identifiable student information.

To avoid AI-generated inaccuracies, Beehler said Realbotix trained the robot and avatar to say, “I don’t know,” instead of generating fabricated or misleading responses known as “AI hallucinations.”

The Trump administration has promoted the expanded use of AI and technology in education. Early in his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a taskforce to help integrate AI into curricula and teacher training. In March, First Lady Melania Trump entered a White House technology summit alongside a humanoid, AI-powered robot and invited guests to envision a future where robots educate children in literature, science, art, philosophy, mathematics, and history.

At the same time, there has been growing scrutiny of educational technology nationwide, with parents forming groups to push for stronger oversight of AI, and clearer guidelines to limit screen time and ensure digital resources are used appropriately in schools. In May, the New York State United Teachers union called for strict limits on artificial intelligence and screen time in schools, and earlier this month, New York City Public Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels announced an educational technology purchasing freeze until the school system finalizes guidance on artificial intelligence later this summer.

The classroom marks a new venture for Realbotix, a Toronto-based robotics company formerly known as Tokens.com, that helped customers use cryptocurrency to rent “digital land” in the Metaverse. In April 2024, the company acquired Simulcra, the Las Vegas parent company behind RealDoll, which has spent decades creating hyperrealistic sex dolls and later expanded into sex robots that remain on the market today.

In a statement to New York Focus, a spokesperson explained that over the past two years, Realbotix has built a new team focused on education, health care, and wellness applications, and that Realbotix and RealDoll do not share employees, payroll, physical locations, or technology. She said Realbotix “is pursuing a transaction with a Nasdaq-listed company that is intended to separate the businesses at the ownership level” with completion expected by September.

In recent years, Realbotix has worked to expand its presence in commercial settings. Still, it is best known for its “companion robots,” which are different from sex robots and intended to address what it’s described as a “loneliness epidemic.” Kiguel has previously said the company’s goal is to produce robots and AI that are “indistinguishable from humans.”

Beehler, Salamanca’s superintendent, said the partnership with Realbotix began after a former colleague met an investor at a dinner and discussed the possibility of bringing the company’s robots into the education sector. He was initially cautious about the partnership because it represented uncharted territory for both Realbotix and the school district. But he said the company was receptive to feedback and willing to adapt its products for the unique demands of an educational setting.

The superintendent acknowledged concerns about students’ increasing screen time and emphasized that AI and robotics should support, not replace, the human connections at the center of education.

Beehler said the district will measure the success of the program primarily through qualitative feedback from both students and teachers.

Ryan Schaaf, associate professor of educational technology at Notre Dame of Maryland University, said he was optimistic about the initiative, but cautioned that its success hinges on thoughtful implementation, with teachers actively monitoring and guiding students’ interactions with AI.

Schaaf acknowledged the backlash against AI in education, but said ignoring the technology is a mistake. “It gives students a true disadvantage because once they leave school, they are going to be immersed in AI technologies.” Instead, he argued that schools should balance AI-assisted learning with traditional instruction to prepare students for life after high school.

State Senator George Borrello, who represents Salamanca and surrounding areas of Western New York, said the program could help level the playing field for students by providing tutoring access to those who might not be able to afford private options and sparking greater interest in STEM.

Borrello said local leaders have long struggled with keeping young people from leaving Upstate New York after high school. He said investments in technology and STEM education could help show students they can pursue fulfilling, high-paying careers in tech while still building their futures in rural communities like Salamanca.

“One of the biggest things we see right now in technology is people fearing what the future will be with AI. Will it replace the workforce? Will it grow out of control?” he said. “I think this is a great way to get not just the kids but the teachers and the parents more comfortable with what the future may hold.”