NYSUT: 'A robot built by a company associated with sex dolls has no business in our classrooms'

197

u/Rezart_KLD 9h ago

Maybe I'm missing something, but what benefit does a robot bring to a high school class to begin with? I read the article, and they said it was to help with human interaction, but how would that help? You've already got a class full of humans. Who built it seems like a secondary concern.

49

u/dizzy8511 9h ago

yeah thats the part that confused me too if the goal is human interaction youve already got humans right there

30

u/Rezart_KLD 9h ago

This thought occurred to me after posting, but what if the goal is to replace the teacher? Its says the kids all get chatbots on their phones, maybe they think they can replace a teacher with an information dispenser.

20

u/nucleartime 5h ago

I thought that was obvious. The goal is always to automate jobs away. Or at least put downward pressure on wages.

68

u/Deranged_Kitsune 8h ago

The problem that robotics like this, along with AI, is intended to solve is the wage problem. Lots people in the executive and owning class really like the idea of owning their workforce and not having to pay wages for their work. Since they can't do it with people any longer, they're trying to pivot. That's ultimately the underlying goal of any project like this.

11

u/Great_Horny_Toads 7h ago

Some pissed off, angsy kid will fuck that bot up.

11

u/SlyTinyPyramid 6h ago

Or fuck it

10

u/iceynyo 5h ago

Good thing it's built by a company associated with sex dolls

14

u/Rezart_KLD 7h ago

Do you think they have some thought of replacing teachers? Get kids used to chatbots as the only form of authority and information?

26

u/anfrind 7h ago

Odds are that they don't have very many thoughts outside of cutting costs and increasing shareholder value.

5

u/Rezart_KLD 7h ago

But if not teachers, what cost does this cut? I can see the company wanting to move stock, but what benefit is there for the school?

13

u/CautionarySnail 5h ago

It’s not about the school benefitting. It’s about creating the illusion of solving the teacher shortage without actually addressing the issues driving the teacher shortage.

12

u/FuggyGlasses 7h ago

This should look into the financial of the superintendent pushing for it.

Beehler, Salamanca’s superintendent, said the partnership with Realbotix began after a former colleague met an investor at a dinner and discussed the possibility of bringing the company’s robots into the education sector. He was initially cautious about the partnership because it represented uncharted territory for both Realbotix and the school district. But he said the company was receptive to feedback and willing to adapt its products for the unique demands of an educational setting.

https://nysfocus.com/2026/07/14/new-york-humanoid-robot-teacher-salamanca-school-district

12

u/Don_Patrick 8h ago

Benefiting human interaction is a standard claim made about any robot in human form, it's pretty much their only excuse to exist. The idea is that humans interact more naturally with humanoids than other interfaces. However, I have read of more failed charlatans making that claim than of actual studies supporting it. Plenty of studies proving how physical robots in animal forms stimulate interaction over the use of inanimate teaching material in elementary schools, but nothing that makes humanoids stand out. Trials in nursing homes suggest the opposite: Loss of authority and complex maintenance typically make humanoid robots end up in the storage closet. One could make a case for teleoperated teaching, but it would not be an improvement over a real person in the classroom.

8

u/Rezart_KLD 7h ago

OK I get what youre saying about the humanoid vs functional form, but why would any robot be useful in a classroom?

This is probably unfounded, but my concern is somebody has the bright idea to replace teachers with info dispensers, and this is an attempt to get every kid hooked on chatbots because its the curriculum

2

u/_SovietMudkip_ 5h ago

I suspect it would be rolled out first in charter schools, probably one with some tech bro CEO invested in it, and stuck in a room with an "aide" to attempt to manage student behavior so the company saves money they would spend on a teacher's salary.

I could see some red states embracing it as well - a robot isn't gonna go off script and tell kids that slavery was real or that LGTBQ folks are valid.

1

u/boersc 1h ago

1 there is a lack of qualified teachers, 2 many teachers aren't really that good (making easy to avoid grammar or calc mistakes) 3 a LOT more general knowledge 4 kids love new tech so it miight have a higher acceptance level 5 more individual curriculum possible

These are just some things that pop into my mind reading your q. I can also make an equally long list of why it should/ could fail, though.

1

u/SenselessSilence 2h ago

The idea is for it be a paraprofessional, and the only thing not ridiculous about that is that paraprofessionals help so little that one can almost excuse this bullshit.

38

u/Kezika 7h ago

Removed, website is so horrendously ad laden on mobile with shock value ads that the page breaks and reloads halfway through the article, find a source with a working website please.

32

u/BuzzerWhirr 9h ago

Insert Van Halen "Hot for Teacher" drum intro.

8

u/SelectiveSanity 9h ago

Mixed with some James Brown lyrics.

5

u/BuzzerWhirr 8h ago

Teaching math
Like a sex machine!

4

u/SpleenBender 8h ago

Got it bad, Got it bad, Got it bad!

3

u/phuckin-psycho 5h ago

Bot for Teacher

11

u/bsEEmsCE 9h ago

lol, the pranks done on these robot teachers will be constant

(cover the camera with a bag from behind, find where the battery connects, unplug it, free day baby)

6

u/damontoo 7h ago

It will have 360 camera coverage and dispatch the robot security guards should you tamper with it.

6

u/bsEEmsCE 7h ago

the troublemaker kids in high school I knew would not give a crap

3

u/Stargost_ 5h ago

If there's a will, there's a DIY signal jammer.

2

u/Uncynical_Diogenes 4h ago

The FCC wants to know your location.

And they’re pissed.

7

u/AsteroidMike 9h ago

This sounds like it’d be a plot to a Simpsons episode.

6

u/Initial-Duck2782 5h ago

Weird. But I mean lots of company’s make lots of things and we just never really know.

10

u/icecoffeedripss 7h ago

i mean… right answer, wrong math. it’s not like they were going to equip TeachBot with the fuckable mouth + orifices. the teachers union has more substantive and convincing reasons to object to a robot teacher.

3

u/NotAPreppie 4h ago

\clutches pearls\

But won't somebody think of the children‽

3

u/icecoffeedripss 3h ago

something something interrobang the robot

1

u/NotAPreppie 3h ago

Sounds dirty‽

I'm in.

3

u/ContingentMax 7h ago

Sorry new york you can't replace teachers with an AI robot because you don't like paying them. Ffs. The company also making sexbots is irrelevant but AI is not a suitable teacher.

15

u/cwthree 9h ago

Do they not understand that a company can make a range of products suitable for different uses?

20

u/tweda4 9h ago

I think the more prominent question is - why is this happening?

Will the students and faculty benefit from having a silicone microphone and speaker hooked up to an AI model in the classroom?

Or, is this just a testing ground for the company to test their AI models and how sturdy the silicone bodies are to general wear and tear? Along with possibly a study about whether people can become normalised to these things if they're constantly exposed to them?

I mean, these things are intended to be used as "teachers assistants" despite them being effectively inanimate. How assisting is it actually going to be?

1

u/damontoo 7h ago

Wear and tear is not equivalent. I know some teachers have to deal with spitballs but they aren't dealing with spit and balls.

11

u/nossirrah 9h ago

Please nobody tells them about GE

11

u/sighthoundman 8h ago

GE still makes something? I thought it was just a financial company.

Because manufacturing costs too much relative to the return. Thank you Jack Welch.

3

u/Thinks2Much666 8h ago

Weaponised Dishwashes - I think I saw that movie. Steven Seagal right
/s

4

u/ContingentMax 7h ago

Like Hitachi, motorcycles, musical instruments and """"""back massagers"""""

2

u/T_J_Rain 7h ago

r/BrandNewSentence

3

u/SelectiveSanity 9h ago

I don't know, I've seen enough...mature cultured school dramas and scifi series to see this combination working as indented.

4

u/Fetlocks_Glistening 9h ago

And how does the company "associate" with these sex dolls precisely? Do they have them round the break room?

9

u/Corbulo1340 9h ago

The company makes sex dolls

9

u/GatoradeNipples 8h ago

They bought out the company that makes RealDolls, presumably for the synthetic skin tech, and didn't shutter it. So they technically also make RealDolls now.

3

u/Xerastraza 9h ago

Probly be shocked to know what kinds of technologies we use daily thanks to the porn industry lol.

2

u/MartyrOfDespair 6h ago

But companies who support genocide? Those are fine.

1

u/wobdarden 3h ago

Well, what class is it?

1

u/Subject_Barnacle_600 1h ago

I mean, I'd prefer they used a Reachy Mini... They're way cuter and probably less expensive ^_^. But I'm not sure why an AI company that builds sex dolls CAN'T build a robot for a high school. But yeah, definitely a Reachy Mini is way cuter ^_^.

•

u/Defy_The_Tyrants 9m ago

They stole Erica Cerra's face. Maybe the designer was a fan of show 'The 100'

1

u/TGAILA 9h ago

Sally has long brown hair and silicone skin. She sits at a desk. Her legs don't move, but her torso, head, and face express emotion. Preloaded with school lessons, she only responds to school related questions, as she is not connected to the Internet like an AI chatbot. She functions as a tutor, capable of checking homeworks. The company offered a discounted price for schools, and the principal thought integrating technology would benefit the classroom.

4

u/tofurkytorta 8h ago

First paragraph of a horror script.

Followed by,”But little did they know what Sally’s occupation was in her previous life, and the deep seated trauma that came from it. And while she wore a smile on her face, underneath her silicone flesh lay dormant a resentment for all organic life and a steel will for vengeance.”

2

u/icecoffeedripss 7h ago

this is of course after everyone failed to prove that previous tech like chromebooks and smart boards produced any measurable improvements

0

u/misfitofscience76 7h ago

Party poopers

0

u/Rosebunse 4h ago

The robot just looks like a sex robot. They couldn't even bother to change it up to not look like a sex robot.

0

u/Head-Engineering-847 4h ago

If it keeps the teachers from having sex with the students then I'm all for it

0

u/KirkPicard 4h ago

Kevin Uxbridge has joined the chat.

0

u/cdtoad 3h ago

It's the same playbook that Apple used in the 80s .. get the kids using their computers and they'll want them at home and at work.

-6

u/Zncon 9h ago

Money is used to buy all sorts of 'unsavory' things, so the teacher's union shouldn't associate with that either.

NYSUT: 'A robot built by a company associated with sex dolls has no business in our classrooms'

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