NYC public schools ban generative AI for students below ninth grade

New York City public schools are implementing a one-year moratorium on artificial intelligence in classrooms for students below ninth grade for the city’s upcoming school year.The school district, which is the largest in the nation, will be banning children’s use of generative AI in its 2-K program through eighth grade. 2-K refers to the city’s free early childhood education program for 2-year-olds. It is separate from traditional preschool.Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the new policy on Wednesday, alongside Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, before New York City’s 2026-27 school year starts Sept. 10. “Children need teachers and human connection in order to learn and grow,” Mamdani said in a statement. “They need to develop skills alongside their peers, build relationships with educators and wrestle with tough problems on their own.”“The tech industry wants us to believe that A.I.-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary. We do not see it that way,” he added. “That’s why we’re implementing a moratorium on generative AI for students in 2-K through 8th grade and spending the next year studying the impacts of this technology.”The one-year moratorium prohibits companion chatbots and all software that uses student-facing generative AI for the aforementioned grades.The district may extend the moratorium beyond the new school year following a comprehensive review of the AI policy, Mamdani told reporters at a press conference.The plan is expected to impact nearly 600,000 public school students, which represents about two-thirds of the system’s total enrollment.Additionally, there will be new screen-time rules that vary depending on grade. For students in second grade and below, one-on-one screen time is restricted entirely. Students between third and fifth grade get 30 minutes of screen time per day, and those between sixth and eighth grade get 45 minutes of daily screen time.This policy builds on the district’s ban on cellphones and other personal devices during the school day for students ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade. Introduced last fall, the measure remains in effect this year. School-provided computers are exempt from the ban.Though the one-year moratorium on generative AI doesn’t apply to high schoolers, they are supposed to partake in AI literacy classes twice a year. Separately, up to 50,000 high school students in general education classes will be testing five select AI pilot programs before they’re presumably introduced to the broader school district.HOCHUL DEMANDS TRUMP RESTORE $87 MILLION IN NEW YORK COUNTERTERRORISM FUNDINGGov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) applauded Mamdani for his administration’s efforts to limit AI and screens in the classroom.“We have a responsibility to ensure that rapidly-changing technology supports our children and their learning, rather than getting in the way of it,” Hochul said in the statement. “New York State has been leading the way in our efforts to keep kids focused on learning and growing — not clicking and scrolling — and I commend Mayor Mamdani for building on this work and pushing our shared commitment to supporting New York’s kids forward.”