“Sally” Sparks Controversy After Ties to Sex Robot Company Surface
Artificial intelligence has already found its way into classrooms through software like ChatGPT, adaptive learning platforms, and AI-powered tutoring systems. But one school district in upstate New York has taken things several steps further by introducing a humanoid robot named Sally as a classroom teaching assistant.
However, the decision has ignited a nationwide debate, not only because of concerns over AI replacing educators, but because Sally was developed by Realbotix, a company whose roots are closely tied to the creation of hyper-realistic sex dolls and companion robots. That connection has prompted fierce criticism from teachers’ unions, parents, and privacy advocates who argue that the technology belongs nowhere near a public school.
Salamanca High School Welcomes “Sally”
Sally was scheduled to begin working this fall at Salamanca High School in western New York, serving primarily as an educational assistant for 11th and 12th grade students enrolled in artificial intelligence, robotics, coding, and STEAM courses. Rather than replacing teachers, district officials said Sally would supplement classroom instruction by answering questions, reinforcing lessons, providing personalized tutoring, and helping students learn about emerging technologies.
The robot features realistic silicone skin, facial expressions, upper-body movement, and conversational AI capable of interacting with students in a remarkably human-like manner. School officials emphasized that Sally operates on a closed system without internet access during classroom use and was designed to function under direct teacher supervision rather than independently. The district viewed the pilot program as a way to expose rural students to cutting-edge technology that larger, wealthier school systems might already have access to.
Is the Argument Over the “Sex Doll” Realism, or the Usage of Artificial Intelligence at All?
Those assurances, however, did little to calm critics. The New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) union immediately condemned the project, arguing that no artificial intelligence can replace the empathy, judgment, and human connection provided by real educators. Union President Melinda Person was especially critical of the district’s decision to partner with a company associated with realistic sex dolls, stating that students deserve authentic human relationships rather than interactions with humanoid machines.
The controversy quickly escalated, drawing attention from the New York State Education Department, which raised questions involving student privacy, instructional quality, legal compliance, and safety. Facing mounting public pressure, Salamanca officials ultimately paused the rollout while state regulators review the project and community concerns are addressed.
Who is Realbotix?
One of the biggest reasons for the backlash is the history of Realbotix itself. The company did not begin as an educational technology firm. Instead, its origins are deeply connected to Abyss Creations, the Las Vegas manufacturer behind the famous RealDoll, one of the world’s best-known manufacturers of hyper-realistic silicone sex dolls. Realbotix was originally created to develop artificial intelligence and robotic technology that could animate those dolls with facial expressions, speech, memory, and conversation, effectively transforming them into interactive companion robots, often referred to by the media as “sexbots.”
Over time, the company expanded beyond the adult companion market, developing robots for customer service, entertainment, hospitality, healthcare, and now education. Following corporate restructuring and acquisitions, Realbotix has repositioned itself as an AI robotics company focused on human interaction across multiple industries while maintaining that its educational robots are entirely separate products from its adult-oriented business history.
That history is not in dispute. While Realbotix today markets itself as a developer of humanoid robots for commercial and educational purposes, the company’s technological foundation was built alongside the development of RealDoll products and AI-powered companion robots. Critics argue that this background makes the company an inappropriate partner for public education, regardless of how the technology is currently being marketed. Supporters counter that many technology companies evolve over time and that today’s educational robot shares little beyond engineering expertise with the company’s earlier consumer products. Realbotix has repeatedly emphasized that Sally was purpose-built for schools and that no student data is used to train commercial AI systems or shared outside the district.
The Debates Will Continue as More Robots are Released Over Time
The debate surrounding Sally extends well beyond one New York school district. It raises broader questions about the role artificial intelligence should play in education, how much interaction students should have with lifelike robots, and whether humanoid AI should ever become a substitute for human instruction. Some educators see robots like Sally as valuable teaching tools capable of helping students understand AI, programming, and robotics firsthand. Others fear the technology represents the first step toward reducing the role of teachers while normalizing increasingly human-like machines in everyday life.
For now, Sally’s future remains uncertain. What was expected to become the nation’s first deployment of a humanoid AI teaching assistant has instead become a flashpoint in the larger debate over artificial intelligence, education, privacy, and ethics. Whether Sally eventually enters the classroom or not, the controversy has already forced educators, lawmakers, parents, and technology companies to confront an uncomfortable question: just because we can build a human-looking AI teacher, does that mean we should?
