Upstate New York’s Robot Teacher Halted After Backlash From Parents

The future is now... at least that's what we've been told. Life is somewhat both very similar and unrecognizable from life just 30 years ago, but it's not exactly the future we imagined.

Read More: Robot Teacher to Be Used at Upstate New York School District

New York almost broke the barrier with a new robot teacher at a Western new York school district, but those plans have since halted...

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A Robot Teacher?

This all started with the Salamanca City Central School District, who announced earlier this year that they would be implementing a Realbotix educational robot and digital avatar. Effectively, it's an in-house A.I. that would use educational content provided by the district to offer assistance to students.

It wouldn't have taught the children, more so acted as an assistant that students can ask questions, and the robot will guide them through the process as opposed to just giving an answer.

The Backlash

Just under two weeks later, the school district announced via Facebook that they would be putting the program on hold. This is due to a letter, sent by state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa to the district superintendent stating “the Department remains concerned about the effect that a humanoid robot may have within a high school classroom.”

This came from most parents and teachers in the district, who saw the implementation of A.I. in the classroom as invasive. They were also concerned about a human-like robot in the classroom and the effects that might have on growing minds.

This isn't a full cancellation, just a pause, and the district hopes to find a way to implement this new technology where every party is happy.