The Altus charter school network in San Diego came under severe criticism from the educational community after it acquired two humanoid Ameca robots for $500,000. These 188-centimeter humanoids from Engineered Arts are equipped with silicone faces and should serve as teachers, well-being coaches, college enrollment counselors, and interpreters. At the same time, students are never left alone with cars.

Experts call this purchase a pointless waste of funds. Professor Wayne Holmes of University College London has stated that there is no independent, large-scale evidence for the safety or effectiveness of such tools in academic settings. Another researcher has described physical robots as "full of nonsense, show and farce", noting that no machine can reproduce the intelligence and adaptability of a living teacher. Critics emphasize that a half-million dollars could be channeled into hiring real educators, assistants, or mental health professionals.

Reality was far from expectations: during the observed lesson, the robot depicting Nikola Tesla would constantly poke, stop, and speak too fast for students to understand. Even the school’s own academic research dean admitted that it was "awkward." This story unfolds amid global debates about AI in education: while some schools are experimenting with humanoids, Norway recently banned all AI tools for primary-school students, citing a decline in test scores.