Salamanca City Central School District on the Seneca Nation Reservation in New York will pilot an artificial intelligence (AI) teacher’s assistant and humanoid robot in its high school AI and robotics courses, Realbotix Corp. announced June 24.
Salamanca City Central School District is a Woz ED STEM Pathway district. The Woz ED STEM program was created by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering, math, and emerging technologies.
The pilot will begin in the district’s Woz ED AI and Robotics courses, and plans are in place to expand to about 500 high school students in the fall semester, according to Las Vegas-based Realbotix.
“Working with Realbotix, we now have a powerful solution that will not replace student learning or our valued educators but instead serves as an additional custom resource to enhance learning outcomes and increase the efficiency of educators’ planning and lesson development,” said Mark Beehler, superintendent of Salamanca City Central School District.
Beehler said the system includes “strong school-specific safeguards for content and privacy” and is intended to reduce the risk of students being exposed to inappropriate, inaccurate, or biased information.
Pilot program includes AI-powered assistance, humanoid robot
The district will use Optio, Realbotix’s AI-powered teacher’s assistant and at-home tutor, to provide students with concept reinforcement, homework support, multilingual assistance, and tutoring outside of school hours.
The platform uses personalized avatars trained on the district curriculum. Realbotix said student and educator feedback from the pilot will help guide future development of the platform.
The deployment also includes a Realbotix M-Series humanoid robot, which will use natural conversation, facial expressions, and real-time interaction to support hands-on classroom learning, according to Realbotix. The company said the robot is intended to encourage student participation.
Realbotix described Salamanca as the flagship deployment for its broader education rollout strategy. The company said it plans to measure outcomes, including student engagement, concept mastery, and teacher workload reduction as it looks to create a repeatable AI teaching assistant model for additional districts and STEM-focused schools.
“This deployment in a working school district represents a landmark moment for both AI and humanoid robotics,” said Andrew Kiguel, CEO of Realbotix. “We are moving beyond lab demonstrations and pilots to deliver real, embodied AI directly into classrooms – supporting teachers, engaging students, and proving that advanced robotics can thrive in live educational environments.”
