NY school district pauses AI robot teaching assistant rollout amid controversies about manufacturer
A school district in rural New York has paused a program to bring in a robot assistant teacher as it reviews privacy concerns.The Salamanca City Central School District's board initially approved the nearly $60,000 purchase of an AI-driven robot from Realbotix, which would not only be in the classroom, but could communicate with students through their laptops.The robot, named Sally, is designed to resemble a human, with silicone skin and long brown hair.It will remain seated but will be capable of a range of facial expressions and upper-body movements.
The robot would not be a replacement for teachers or staff or operate unsupervised, but be a tutor of sorts that remembers previous interactions with a student and tailors its responses to each student's learning history.However, the program has met with two major controversies.There has been robust debate over both students' use of AI and schools' use of AI to help teach students (iStock)WILLIAM BENNETT, JON HAGE: AI CAN MIMIC A TEACHER, BUT IT CANNOT SHEPHERD A SOULAccording to the Associated Press, Realbotix’s sister company, Intima LLC, "holds an ownership stake in RealDoll, a longtime maker of sex dolls, including a line of AI-powered models billed as the ‘world’s most advanced sex robot.’"Realbotix, however, has asserted that these companies have completely different products with "no crossover.""Realbotix Corp.is a holding company with two separately operated businesses: Realbotix LLC, which focuses on AI-powered humanoid robotics for commercial service sector applications, and Intima LLC, which focuses on direct-to-consumer products.
Realbotix LLC and Intima LLC have different product offerings with no crossover."The Salamanca City Central School District’s given reason for pausing the program, however, is students’ data concerns regarding any information they share with the robot.The Associated Press reported that in a now-deleted statement from the district’s Facebook page, the robot teacher ...