From yahoo.com
The superintendent of a small New York school district said there is “absolutely no intention to replace teachers” following the decision to pilot an AI-assisted humanoid robot in classrooms this fall.
“In a school, human-to-human interaction is significantly important for youth and student development,” Salamanca City Central School District Superintendent Mark Beehler told NewsNation. “I don’t see a place where robots can replace human beings.”
The rural district on the Seneca Nation reservation is set to be among the first to place a humanoid robot in the classroom, New York Focus reported.
“The robot aims to encourage student participation and provide early exposure to emerging technologies,” Toronto-based robotics company Realbotix wrote in a release.
Salamanca High School will first deploy the robot in AI and robotics courses, along with an AI teaching assistant program that students can use to interact with the robot’s avatar on their laptops, the outlet reported.
“Sally” cost the district $57,590, according to the contract.
“Starting out slowly and cautiously with upper-level students in the high school is prudent,” Beehler said in response to concerns about how the program may grow. “After that sort of pilot, we will see how it can expand to other students in the high school.”
Beehler added that the program is partially aimed at teaching students how to use artificial intelligence appropriately in school and in the workplace. He explained that the district collaborated directly with “Realbotix to develop a safe AI platform … that eliminates a lot of the concerns that we have over other open AI sources.”