{"id":9358,"date":"2026-07-27T14:58:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T11:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reschool.gr\/9358\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T15:17:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:17:06","slug":"robot-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reschool.gr\/en\/robot-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"“Today, a Robot Will Walk Into Your Classroom…”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If someone had told me five years ago that teachers around the world would one day be seriously debating whether a robot belongs in a classroom, I probably would have smiled.<\/span><\/span>
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I would have told them they’d been watching too many science-fiction movies.<\/span><\/span>
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Because, let’s be honest, that’s how most of us grew up. Robots belonged to the future – a future so distant that we never felt the need to take it seriously.<\/span><\/span>
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And yet… today we’re not talking about fiction.<\/span><\/span>
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We’re talking about <\/span><\/span>a real school<\/span><\/span><\/strong>. Real students. Real teachers. And a humanoid robot that already has a name.<\/span><\/span>
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Sally<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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You know, technology reminds me a little of <\/span><\/span>the tide<\/strong>.<\/span><\/span>
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It never arrives as one giant wave you can see coming from miles away. It creeps in quietly. At first, it only touches your toes. You shrug and think, “It’s nothing.” Then the water reaches your ankles. “Still nothing.” Before you realize exactly when it happened, you look around\u2014and you’re already standing in the sea.<\/span><\/span>
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That’s exactly how artificial intelligence feels to me.<\/span><\/span>
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Two years ago we were asking it to write emails.<\/span><\/span>
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Today we’re discussing whether it should sit across from our children in a classroom.<\/span><\/span>
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When I first came across the story, I did what I always do whenever something sparks my curiosity.<\/span><\/span>
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I didn’t stop at the headline.<\/span><\/span>
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I started digging.<\/span><\/span>
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I read interviews. I searched for photos. I looked for videos filmed by students. I researched the company that built Sally, the school that invited her, the public reaction, and the scientific studies on humanoid robots in education.<\/span><\/span>
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And something unexpected happened.<\/span><\/span>
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The more I learned about Sally, the less interested I became in the robot itself.<\/span><\/span>
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Instead, I found myself thinking about <\/span><\/span>people<\/span><\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Because Sally isn’t just another chatbot.<\/span><\/span>
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She isn’t simply a program running on a computer.<\/span><\/span>
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She stands about <\/span><\/span>1.73 meters<\/span><\/span><\/strong> (<\/span><\/span>5’8″<\/span><\/span><\/strong>) tall, has silicone skin, long brown hair, expressive facial movements, eyes that follow the person she’s is speaking to, and remarkably full lips -described by American journalists as “bee-stung lips” because they resemble Angelina Jolie’s distinctive features.<\/span><\/span>
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She doesn’t walk, though.<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
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She remains seated<\/span><\/span><\/strong> for safety, stability, and reliability.<\/span><\/span>
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And according to people who have met her, something strange happens surprisingly quickly:<\/span><\/span>
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You forget you’re talking to a machine.<\/span><\/span>
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Perhaps because our brains instinctively associate a face, a pair of eyes, and a human voice with another human being.<\/span><\/span>
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And that’s precisely where the difficult questions begin.<\/span><\/span>
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Sally even speaks with a Western New York (Buffalo) <\/span><\/span>accent<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, because the school specifically requested it, hoping she would sound more familiar and approachable to local students.<\/span><\/span>
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One design decision fascinated me even more.<\/span><\/span>
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She isn’t supposed to hand students the answers.<\/span><\/span>
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Instead, she has been programmed to <\/span><\/span>respond with questions<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>hints<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span><\/strong>and <\/span><\/span>prompts<\/span><\/span><\/strong> that encourage students to think for themselves rather than simply solving the problem for them.<\/span><\/span>
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That wasn’t an accident.<\/span><\/span>
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It was a deliberate requirement from the school.<\/span><\/span>
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The principal explained that one of today’s biggest concerns about AI is that it encourages students to take shortcuts instead of developing genuine understanding. That’s why many of the typical AI features were intentionally removed.<\/span><\/span>
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The broader vision was even more compelling:<\/span><\/span>
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A student whose family cannot afford private tutoring would still have access to personalized academic support – 24 hours a day.<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
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Sally was scheduled to begin working <\/span><\/span>at Salamanca High School in New York<\/strong>.<\/span><\/span>
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Not as a replacement for teachers – at least that’s what the school repeatedly emphasized – but as a teaching assistant.<\/span><\/span>
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She would support <\/span><\/span>
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