If you were worried about artificial intelligence coming for your job, take comfort in knowing that you could be replaced by a sexy AI.
The Salamanca City Central School District, in upstate New York, approved an almost $58,000 purchase of a realistic teaching robot to use in a high school classroom as a "tutoring platform."
No doubt, the tech bro community pumped their fists and cackled with glee that they could put even more people out of work.
Except people noticed the teacher-bot bore an uncanny resemblance to a sexbot. To make matters worse, the company that owns the teacher-bot manufacturer, Realbotix, also owns a sexbot manufacturer, Intima, LLC.
Now, to be clear, the Salamanca City Central School District said they bought the teacher-bot from Realbotix, and that it is not a sexbot. Never mind that the teacher-bot is an attractive female that you'd be forgiven for believing was a sexbot. I would be more likely to believe it’s a teacher-bot if it looked like a worn and haggard 45-year-old who's wondering whether they could quit and survive on a bartender’s salary.
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In fact, Realbotix says their two companies operate completely independently, with entirely separate management, payroll, facilities, manufacturing operations, and market strategies. Realbotix focuses on healthcare, education, and other nonadult commercial applications; Intima makes realistic, life-sized dolls for personal applications.
Seneca superintendent Mark Beehler — who approved spending $57,590 on a teacher-bot — explained the benefit: "Having a difficult time programming an Arduino board? Don't even know what an Arduino board is? Ask Sally, and she can explain it."
Sally is the name of the teacher-bot.
He added, "The robot also provides opportunities for students to learn how the robot is maintained, how it is updated with new approved content, and how to troubleshoot issues."
And teenagers being teenagers, they will totally respect Realbotix’s mission and never say anything inappropriate to an AI bot that’s totally independent from a sexbot manufacturer.
Teachers, parents, state education officials, and local residents also voiced their concerns. Their biggest concern? How students would react to a not-a-sexbot teaching their classes.
Just kidding. They’re concerned about how students’ personal information would be used.
At least that’s the reason the school district has given for halting the purchase that’s nearly equal to one teacher’s annual salary. Now they’re working with state education officials to finalize details on student data privacy agreements.
Understandably, the teachers are upset because the purchase hits a little closer to home.
"A robot built by a company associated with sex dolls has no business in our classrooms, said Melinda Person, president of the New York State United Teachers labor union.
Even if Sally isn’t a sexbot, people think this is a bad move.
"Our members in Salamanca and educators across the state are sounding the alarm that this is really inappropriate," said Person. "I would say our initial reaction is this is kind of creepy."
In the end, the teachers have the same fears as everyone else. They worry this is the first step toward replacing human teachers.
Person said, "Our students don’t need robots. They need relationships with caring adults."
Surprisingly, Beehler agrees. He said he didn’t want to replace staff.
"There is no possible way a robot can replace a human in a school. Even if it were possible, it would in no way be in the best interest of students. Teaching is a human-to-human process."
The average teacher salary in the Salamanca City Central School District is between $62,000 and $66,000 per year; the teacher-bot cost almost $58,000. Sounds like a replacement to me.
If there really is no possible way a robot could replace a human in a school, then Beehler should have just ponied up a few thousand more bucks to hire another human teacher.
Still, Salamanca’s purchase may have been a real savings. Last year, a San Diego charter school bought two AI-powered robots from the UK for $500,000.
At least when Beehler tries to steal American jobs, he buys American.
As far as data gathering goes, district officials have said that Sally will store all information locally, and that she won’t discuss inappropriate topics like sex, violence, and gambling. She also won’t be able to search the internet or use information provided by unvetted generative AI services.
Plus, the district says Sally will use roughly the same amount of energy as a laptop.
So get a laptop. It sounds like this could all be done by a laptop and an external hard disk.
Tech bros have spent the last few years looking for ways to improve efficiency and unlock new knowledge, no matter who it hurts. They want to replace as many people as possible while increasing their own profits.
I can’t wait for the day that the AIs replace the tech bros. At least they’re good at pretending they’re not heartless.
Photo credit: ubahnverleih (Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons 1.0)
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