A plan to introduce a humanoid robot into classrooms at Salamanca High School in western New York has ignited fierce opposition from teachers, union leaders, and Native American community members who call the pilot program culturally insensitive and educationally misguided.
The Cattaraugus County School District purchased the robot, named Sally, for $57,590 from Realbotix, a Toronto-based company. The machine is set to debut in fall 2026 alongside an AI teaching assistant as part of what Realbotix claims will be the first humanoid robot and AI assistant deployment in a U.S. public school district.
Salamanca High School sits on the Allegany territory of the Seneca Nation, with nearly 40 percent of its student body identifying as Native American, a fact that has intensified criticism of the school's selection as a testing ground for the technology.
Lacey Pihlblad, president of the Salamanca Teachers' Association, said faculty has grave concerns about both the technology itself and the company behind it. She pointed to security questions surrounding the software, data storage, and recording capabilities as major red flags.
"The Salamanca teachers' union as a whole is concerned about the background of the company of Realbotix," Pihlblad said in a statement to reporters. "We would like to see the school district pause implementing the robot, pause implementing the software aspect of this AI technology until we can have more individuals weigh in."
She noted that New York State is currently moving away from heavy technology use in classrooms and said deploying a humanoid robot contradicts that trend. "Placing a humanoid robot into the classroom to interact with our children, I believe, is a massive step in the wrong direction," Pihlblad said.
Melinda Person, president of the New York State United Teachers, echoed those concerns and called the proposal inappropriate and unsettling. "I would say our initial reaction is this is kind of creepy," Person said. "Putting a lifeless machine in front of students is a bad idea."
Person argued that educators need more human connection in schools, not more screens. She said the plan to deploy a robot that mimics human interaction could harm students learning to develop social skills naturally. "I would say a machine that the intention of it is to simulate a human relationship with young people who are just learning those skills of how to interact, how to be with their peers, how to solve conflicts, and putting a robot that looks like a human that will lead to the dehumanization of the profession of education, is exactly the wrong thing for us to be doing," Person said.
The choice of Salamanca High School as a pilot site has prompted accusations of cultural insensitivity. Sierra May Abrams, a substitute teacher and local resident, questioned why Native American students were selected to test unproven technology.
"Out of all the schools in New York state, let alone in the US, they chose to experiment on Native American children yet again," Abrams said. She referenced the trauma inflicted by Native American boarding schools and said the pilot program feels like history repeating itself.
Alyson Brown, a community health specialist, Seneca Nation member, and Salamanca graduate, said many students carry intergenerational trauma from relatives who attended the Thomas Indian School on Cattaraugus territory. "Many native families are viewing this pilot program as history repeating itself," Brown said. "I see nothing positive to come from this being introduced in the classroom setting. I worry for the cognitive development of young minds in this exposure."
Realbotix's ownership history has added fuel to the controversy. The company, formerly called Tokens.com, acquired Simulacra in April 2024 for $16.7 million. Simulacra owned Abyss Creations, a manufacturer of realistic sex dolls. Realbotix has denied that its sex doll business bears any connection to the school robot program, but the association has alarmed critics and teachers alike.
New York's Assistant Commissioner of Public Affairs JP O'Hare said the state education department has raised serious concerns about student privacy and appropriate safeguards. "Technology can and should support educators and students, but it should not replace the human judgment or accountability essential to a safe and effective learning environment," O'Hare said.
The Salamanca City Central School District and superintendent Mark Beehler have not responded to requests for comment. Realbotix said the robot is intended to complement, not replace, teachers and will offer students supervised exposure to emerging AI and robotics as part of the district's STEM curriculum.
The Salamanca Teachers' Association is working to include artificial intelligence protections in its upcoming union contract negotiations, signaling that resistance to the pilot program will likely persist into the contract talks.
Author James Rodriguez: "Deploying an untested humanoid robot to a school built on a Native American reservation, helmed by a company with ties to sex dolls, and in defiance of union leadership is not a pilot program, it's a disaster waiting to happen."
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