Overview
- Salamanca City Central School District confirmed it will place a seated humanoid named Sally in 11th‑ and 12th‑grade coding, robotics and AI classes as a pilot starting in September.
- The district and Realbotix say Sally will run on a closed offline system, use student ID codes for limited personalization, default to 'I don't know' on uncertain prompts, and alert administrators on flagged safety terms.
- The district paid roughly $57,000 for the unit after a discount and emphasizes the robot is intended to support teachers rather than replace them.
- Reporters and critics have flagged Realbotix’s corporate ties to companies that make lifelike companion dolls and urged scrutiny of vendor suitability, contract terms and any potential use of classroom data to train models.
- Local advocates and observers note the pilot takes place in a majority Indigenous, resource‑constrained district and call for independent evaluation, clear learning metrics and community oversight before any expansion.