New York school district is testing lifelike robot teachers

A New York school district is piloting a humanoid robot teacher to help students with summer school classes. Announced earlier this year, Salamanca City Central school district, located in Salamanca, New York, and Toronto-based robotics company Realbotix have partnered to integrate a new AI teachers' assistant into classrooms — and potentially debut a fleet of robot tutors this fall. The AI, called Optio, will be available for students in classrooms and outside school hours, including 24/7 homework support. The robot, part of Realbotix' M-Series and named Sally, will be present in select Salamanca City Central high school AI and Robotics courses. The company explains Sally uses natural language processing, facial expressions, and live feedback to provide classroom support, with "education-specific safety guardrails" in place. The robot has a human-like appearance and will remain seated at a desk, with partial upper-body movements. Students must provide Sally with their student ID number, which the robot uses to bring up personalized student learning data. The school is part of the the Woz ED STEM Pathway curriculum program, started by Apple founder Steve Wozniak to boost STEM educa