WTF?! The first potential steps toward another profession being wiped out by AI are being taken in New York. When students in the Salamanca City Central School District in Western New York return to school in the fall, they will find a new teaching assistant: a robotic one powered by artificial intelligence. If that doesn't sound weird enough, the company behind the machine, Realbotix, shares a corporate parent with the manufacturer of a hyperrealistic sex-doll manufacturer.
Update / Correction (July 22): Realbotix contacted TechSpot to clarify that the Salamanca classroom pilot is scheduled to begin in September 2026. According to the company, Sally will operate on a closed system, will not record audio or video, and will not use facial recognition. Realbotix also says the system will not store or transmit personally identifiable student information to the company. The article has been updated to reflect those details.
Located on the Seneca Nation reservation, the rural district will be one of the first to use the humanoid robot, part of Realbotix's M-Series and named Sally. It's integrated with Optio, Realbotix's AI-powered teaching assistant, which can be accessed by students off-site for out-of-hours learning.
One could argue that Realbotix's connection to sex robots is apparent in Sally. The machine has silicone skin, a human-like body, and concerningly plump lips. It also uses natural conversation, facial expressions, and real-time interaction to "create engaging, hands-on learning experiences." Each robot will cost $57,590, which is discounted from the $95,000 list price.
The robot doesn't walk around the classroom like some kind of Detroit: Become Human android; it stays seated and stationary, other than some upper-body movements.
An easily accessible AI in any school is going to raise concerns, but Realbotix promises that its program features strong school-specific safeguards for content and privacy, removing the risk of exposure to inappropriate, inaccurate, or biased information. It also has protections against inappropriate responses and unreliable outputs and operates under full district oversight.
Sally and the accompanying Optio avatar will operate on a closed system that does not access the public internet. The district says Realbotix will not have access to personally identifiable student information, while the company says the system will not record audio or video or use facial recognition. Students will enter unique identification codes that allow the system to retrieve personalized learning data and continue previous conversations.
Salamanca City Central School District is a designated Woz ED STEM Pathway district, an initiative founded by Steve Wozniak to prepare students for careers in STEM and emerging technologies. The initial Optio rollout will serve high school students enrolled in Woz ED AI and robotics courses, with plans to expand access to around 500 students during the fall semester.
Toronto-based Realbotix acquired Simulacra Corporation, the parent company of sex-doll maker RealDoll, in April 2024. Realbotix says its education division shares no employees, technology, or facilities with RealDoll – maybe it should have made Sally look a little less like a sex toy, then?
There is already plenty of controversy surrounding the plan. Researcher Julie Carpenter notes that 79% of students in the district are economically disadvantaged, raising questions about whether underserved communities are being used as testing grounds for expensive and largely unproven technology.
Privacy questions also remain. Realbotix says Sally will not record audio or video, use facial recognition, or provide the company with personally identifiable student information. However, the system will retrieve personalized learning data and remember previous interactions after students enter unique identification codes, meaning some form of student-linked history must be retained within the district-controlled system. There is also the broader question of whether children could form unhealthy attachments to lifelike machines or begin to favor them over human educators.
As a robotics researcher, learning scientist, and author who has followed Realbotix for years, I'm compelled to do a Bluesky thread on this whole pivot that Realbotix is now trying, turning from humanoid sex robots to classroom "education" robots. Buckle up. nysfocus.com/2026/07/14/n... 🧵
– Julie Carpenter, PhD (@jgcarpenter.com) 16 July 2026 at 00:08
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Finally, there's the question of where this will lead. Realbotix and the school district emphasize that Sally is a teaching assistant who will not replace educators, but that's the same message we've heard ever since ChatGPT burst onto the scene and generative AI took thousands of jobs. Teaching is one of those professions considered least at risk from AI replacement, but people never expected nurses to be replaced by AI, either.
New York school will deploy AI teaching robot from company linked to sex bots
the other special little red hat wearers. they know who they are.
