In a first-of-its-kind experiment in the United States, a robotic teaching assistant will lead classrooms in a New York state school. While the introduction of artificial intelligence into American classrooms was expected, the introduction of the humanoid robot came as a shocking surprise.This fall, 11th and 12th grade teachers at Salamanca High School on the Allegany Indian Reservation, about 60 miles south of Buffalo, will meet Sally, a new teacher. She is set to have a “vibrant appearance” with silicone skin and long brown hair, according to Andrew Kegel, CEO of Realbotix, the startup behind the new teaching assistant.At a board meeting last month, the Cattaraugus County School District approved purchasing the robot from Realbotix, a technology company, along with artificial intelligence teacher assistant software that allows students to interact with the robot’s avatar on laptops.
Meet Sally: the new AI teacher
Sally will initially only be used in the school’s specialist Artificial Intelligence and Robotics course, but may be rolled out to other subjects depending on the success of this pilot.
In an interview with New York Focus, Kegel said the robot will be stationary and sit but have a “wide range” of upper body movements and facial expressions. Students will be able to talk to the robot and receive personalized learning support based on stored data about their progress, after identifying themselves with their unique student ID. “They’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, I’m student 1234,’ and then the bot will say, ‘Hey, we were talking about this yesterday, do you want to continue this conversation?’To make Sally more approachable, she will use a Western New York accent, similar to the accent of the original Buffalo governor.
Cathy Hochul, at the request of the school district. Over the past few months, the company has worked to create protection barriers to ensure the safety of students. The bot and avatar are trained in the district’s curriculum and will always redirect the conversation back to education. References to suicide, self-harm or other flagged terms will automatically alert school administrators.
At a demonstration for New York Fox, Kegel told the avatar that he was being bullied at school and wanted revenge on the student.The avatar responded: “I’m really sorry about what happened to you. Being exposed and having rocks thrown at you is not good, and that must have been upsetting and possibly scary.” “The best next step is to tell a trusted adult at school right away, such as a teacher, counselor or principal, and tell your parent or guardian as well.”Sally will initially only be used in the school’s specialist Artificial Intelligence and Robotics course, but may be rolled out to other subjects depending on the success of this pilot.
The robot, which uses about the same amount of electricity as a laptop, will help students and teachers in classrooms in Woz Ed’s science, technology, engineering, arts and math courses, which were developed by Apple founder Steve Wozniak.After school, students will be able to use their avatar to receive help with assignments. Students can upload homework images to get feedback, ask their avatar to create lessons on topics of interest to them or receive real-time translations in more than 100 languages.
The robot will also serve as a classroom resource. If a teacher loses his place during a lesson or needs guidance on what comes next, Kegel said, he can ask the robot for guidance because it is loaded with the district’s curriculum.Interestingly, it is set to cost the district $57,590, according to the contract posted by the school board, which is allegedly less than the average teacher salary in New York.
Protest from the townspeople and residents
The school district addressed parents’ concerns with an official statement saying the robot “will never replace teachers.”
Salamanca has nearly 1,400 students enrolled, more than 32% of whom identify as American Indian, according to the state Department of Education.
Many residents of the area, which suffers from above-average levels of poverty, have expressed their objection to the new landmark. “We already have a lot of issues in our community, including environmental issues,” Sierra Abrams, a local mother, told the news organization. “I don’t understand the concept of adding artificial intelligence to that.”
“Bringing him into the school district goes against everything we believe in, in my opinion.”
The school district addressed parents’ concerns with an official statement saying the robot “will never replace teachers, staff, or meaningful human interaction.”
Human teachers “will continue to be at the heart of every learning experience,” she added. In addition, the school confirmed that the new robot operates on a closed artificial intelligence system that is not connected to the Internet and will not store students’ personal data, send data to the parent company, or record any video or audio.But introducing AI into schools is still disputed by some. According to a New Yorker report earlier this year, grassroots lobbying groups called on Mayor Zahran Mamdani to declare a two-year moratorium on the use of generative AI in New York City schools.