Terrifying ROBOT teachers rolled out in New York school district compared to teachers using email

By WILKO MARTÍNEZ-CACHERO, US REPORTER Published: 21:45, 18 July 2026 | Updated: 21:54, 18 July 2026 A New York school district is set to begin using a humanoid robot to teach its students as part of an AI overhaul that they claim is comparable to using email. The Salamanca City Central School District, which is inside the Allegany Indian Reservation and near the state's western border with Pennsylvania, will introduce a 'lifelike' female robot named Sally this fall, according to New York Focus. Sally, which was created by AI and robotics company Realbotix, will remain in a seated position but be able to move its arms and hands. The humanoid teacher also uses 'natural conversation, facial expressions and real–time interaction' as part of its teaching process, the tech company said. Salamanca City School District superintendent Mark Beehler acknowledged that the move was 'exciting but also a bit nerve wracking,' as he looked toward the fall. 'Not everyone is open to much change in education,' Beehler told the New York Post. He added: 'There was a point in time where people argued "Why do teachers need email accounts?" or "Do we really need to have the internet in school?" This is the next iteration of that.' Beehler insisted that 'AI is already in schools' while defending the move, which will cost the school district more than $50,000. The Salamanca City Central School District will roll out a 'lifelike' female robot, named Sally, to help teach some high school students this fall Sally, which will cost the school district more than $50,000, will initially be used in a pilot for high school AI, coding and robotics courses The robot will first be used in high school AI, coding and robotics courses at Salamanca High School, according to the outlet. The curriculum for those courses was developed by Apple co–founder Steve Wozniak. Whenever Sally speaks up, she will speak to students in a western New York accent, as requested by the school district. 'We don't really hear the accent,' Beehler quipped. 'We think it sounds neutral.' Should the pilot be considered successful, the plan is to expand it to other high school classes. Beehler added that Sally will 'provide data but will encourage the student to think for themselves and demonstrate a comprehension of the material.' The humanoid robot teacher will operate on an offline, closed AI system. It will not collect personal information, record video and audio and communicate data to Realbotix, Beehler told the New York Post. The Salamanca City Central School District (main building pictured) has rejected that the robot is replacing teachers or was 'just like ChatGPT' The humanoid teacher deployed by the school district will feature a western New York accent Whenever students interact with the robot teacher, they will be required to use a unique identification code, according to New York Focus. After doing that, the humanoid will access the student's learning data and then provide personalized support based on prior communication. 'They'll be able to say, "Hey, I'm student number 1234," and then the robot will be like, "Hey, we were talking about this yesterday, do you want to continue that conversation?"' Andrew Kiguel, the CEO of Realbotix, told the outlet. In total, buying the robot teacher was set to cost the school district $57,590, according to an agreement published on the school board agenda cited by the outlet. The robot was expected to be delivered on July 15, according to the contract. Salamanca is the only incorporated city in the US which is fully inside a Native American reservation. Its school district serves about 1,300 students, of which roughly 32 percent identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, according to New York State Education Department data. Of the entire student body, about 79 percent are considered to be economically disadvantaged. Mark Beehler, the Salamanca City School District superintendent, said: 'There was a point in time where people argued "Why do teachers need email accounts?"' Last Friday, the school district insisted that the robot was 'absolutely not' replacing teachers. 'This pilot program is designed to support teachers and students—not replace them,' the district wrote in a statement on Facebook.  'Human relationships and quality instruction remain at the heart of education,' the statement continued. The district rejected the notion that the robot was 'just like ChatGPT,' explaining that it 'only knows the curriculum and information our district intentionally loads into it.' Additionally, the district explained that the robot had 'extensive safety guard rails,' meaning that violence, gambling and sex 'are not discussed.' 'It will say those topics are inappropriate and redirect the conversation to educational topics,' a flyer posted by the district said. The Daily Mail has reached out to the Salamanca City Central School District and Realbotix for further comment.