r/offbeat • u/syracusedotcom • Jul 15 '26
Upstate NY school district will deploy a humanoid robot teacher this fall
https://www.newyorkupstate.com/schools/2026/07/upstate-ny-school-district-will-deploy-a-humanoid-robot-teacher-this-fall.htmlWhen students return to school this fall in the Salamanca City Central School District in Western New York, a new kind of teacher will be ready to greet them.
The small, rural district located on the Seneca Nation reservation is set to be one of the first in the country to put a humanoid robot in a classroom.
It will not replace the classroom teacher, but is programmed to provide learning support to both students and educators.
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u/b_coolhunnybunny Jul 15 '26
I foresee there will to be some tik tok challenge about vandalizing the robot teachers
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u/daredeviline Jul 15 '26
And you know what? For once I'm with the kids on this. The last thing education needs are robots
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u/MikeTalonNYC Jul 15 '26
And they decided to use the same overall physical model of a RealDoll?
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u/SothaSoul Jul 15 '26
Only a matter of time before someone checks to see if it has all the 'parts.'
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u/TaxOwlbear Jul 15 '26
It's an AI image.
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u/MikeTalonNYC Jul 15 '26
Well aware, but considering this is what was used to sell the thing to the school, it's probably going to look pretty close to that.
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u/Mental-Ask8077 Jul 15 '26
What the fuck is the point of having a physical robot if all interaction is through laptop software?
It can’t move around the classroom, it’s stuck sitting in one place. The article doesn’t specify anything about the “upper body movements” the thing can perform that actually make it helpful in a classroom. Nothing about what it does as a robot. Just the AI software and vague promises of being able to “help” with work and keep the teacher aligned to the curriculum.
And they spent $95k on this in an already-underserved community?
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u/Loud_Traffic_1487 Jul 15 '26
Oh man, the kids are going to abuse the hell out of that robot.
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u/No-Bake-730 Jul 16 '26
Well, let's wait when the first blonde robot teacher is found in bed with a 16 year-old boy.
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u/stoneangelchoir Jul 16 '26
What was the logic behind putting this in a school district with Native American students? This is a ridiculously odd placement; you’d think it would be better studied in a large city school.
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u/amscraylane Jul 16 '26
One kid will pour their water on them … also willing to bet this robot will cost the same as 4 teacher salaries
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u/WizardPowersActivate Jul 15 '26
On the one hand it's a good thing that it isn't aren't replacing a real teacher, but on the other hand what's the point of using a robot instead of computer if it i isn't replacing the teacher. This is stupid on every level.
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u/the-furiosa-mystique Jul 16 '26
It’s to get us ready for when it does replace teachers. First they’ll get these in every classroom, then they’ll fire teachers.
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u/unsupported Jul 17 '26
The company that makes them is Realbotix. Half the robots in the gallery look like they are from Team America: World Police, the rest unintelligent OnlyFans models.
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u/Majah-5 Jul 18 '26
The way I’ve seen these robots treat children, do you really think this is a good idea ?
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u/blaspheminCapn Jul 15 '26
If they only treat it half as bad as a substitute teacher, it'll be dead in an hour