The Salamanca City Central school district in upstate New York has paused plans to introduce a humanoid robot at its high school following widespread backlash from educators and community members. The district announced on 24 July via social media that its pilot project with Toronto-based tech company Realbotix is on hold while it works through enhanced student data privacy agreements with the New York State Education Department and continues community engagement.
District cites privacy and community input
The school district, located on the Seneca Nation reservation and serving a large Native American population, stated: “Ensuring that appropriate privacy protections are in place and incorporating input from our community are important parts of the process. We appreciate your patience and will share additional updates as they become available.”
The reversal came after criticism of the program, which would have brought a humanoid robot named Sally to Salamanca high school. According to a Realbotix press release issued in June, the approximately $58,000 robot with silicone skin and brown hair was intended to use “natural conversation, facial expressions and real-time interaction to create engaging, hands-on learning experiences.” The company added that “the robot aims to encourage student participation and provide early exposure to emerging technologies.”
Union and teachers raise concerns
The New York State United Teachers union condemned the plans. Melinda Person, the union president, said in a 23 July statement: “A robot built by a company associated with sex dolls has no business in our classrooms. Our students don’t need robots. They need real relationships with caring adults. Educators notice when students are struggling, celebrate when they succeed and help them discover who they can become. No robot can do that, no matter how lifelike its skin or specific its regional accent.”
Lacey Pihlblad, president of the Salamanca Teachers’ Association and a teacher at the high school, also criticized the proposal: “The Salamanca teachers’ union as a whole is concerned about the background of the company of Realbotix. We’re very concerned about the security of the software that they’re implementing, and whether or not the data will be stored, how it will be gathered, [and] the recording capabilities.”
Native American community questions pilot location
Other educators questioned why the pilot program was launched at a school serving a large Native American population. Sierra May Abrams, a substitute teacher at Salamanca high school, told the Guardian: “Out of all the schools in New York state, let alone in the US, they chose to experiment on Native American children yet again.” She alluded to the history of brutality at Native American boarding schools and said: “Our culture is struggling to stay alive due to the impact of [that] and what they did to our elders. We live on the only reservation located in a city so it’s just absolutely insane that we’re the ones ‘testing it out.’”
Realbotix acquired Simulacra, a Las Vegas-based company that manufactures sex dolls, a little over two years before the announcement. Following the district’s decision, Realbotix CEO Andrew Kiguel told New York Focus: “We fully respect any decision the school makes and encourage thorough due diligence by all parties involved. We want the program to be demonstrably safe, fully district-approved, and strongly supported by teachers … We stand firmly behind [the program] as a supportive tool designed to assist teachers and students, not replace them.”
