The Salamanca City Central school district has put on hold its plan to introduce a humanoid robot at its high school following criticism from educators and community members.
In a 24 July social media post, the district announced that the pilot project with Toronto-based Realbotix was paused “while we work through enhanced student data privacy agreements with the New York State Education Department and continue engaging with our community and stakeholders.” The district, located on the Seneca Nation reservation in upstate New York serving a large Native American population, added: “Ensuring that appropriate privacy protections are in place and incorporating input from our community are important parts of the process.”
Robot details and criticism
The program would have brought a humanoid robot named Sally to the high school. According to a Realbotix press release from 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 also stated: “The robot aims to encourage student participation and provide early exposure to emerging technologies.”
Realbotix acquired Simulacra, a Las Vegas-based sex doll manufacturer, a little over two years before the pause announcement. The New York State United Teachers union condemned the plan. Union President Melinda Person 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.”
Lacey Pihlblad, president of the Salamanca Teachers’ Association and a high school teacher, 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.”
Concerns over Native American community
Other educators questioned why the pilot was launched at a school serving a large Native American population. Substitute teacher Sierra May Abrams 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 referenced 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.’”
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.”
