A school district in western New York has paused its plan to place a humanoid robot in a high school classroom this fall, following intense public backlash and pressure from the state's education department over student privacy concerns and questions about the technology's readiness for classroom use.

A pilot program put on hold

Salamanca City Central School District announced Friday afternoon in a Facebook post that its pilot project with tech company Realbotix had been paused while officials "work through enhanced student data privacy agreements" with the state education agency and continue engaging with community members. The announcement came just hours after state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa sent a letter to Salamanca Superintendent Mark Beehler expressing reservations about the plan. "The Department remains concerned about the effect that a humanoid robot may have within a high school classroom," Rosa wrote, according to the letter, which followed a meeting between the department and district officials earlier in the week.

Rosa's letter reflected broader unease she said extended well beyond her own office. "Many parents, teachers, and stakeholders are understandably concerned about the presence of artificial intelligence technology in classrooms, particularly when it involves robots that resemble humans," she wrote.

What the district had planned

The district had intended to introduce the robot to high school students this fall alongside a related artificial........

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