New York City just instituted a sweeping ban on schools using AI in the classroom through the start of high school, along with other restrictions on the technology.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the one-year moratorium on Wednesday, calling it the “most comprehensive of its kind anywhere in the country.”
“The tech industry wants us to believe that AI in early education is not only inevitable, but that it is necessary,” Mamdani said during a press conference. “We do not see it that way. I have yet to see a study showing that AI is beneficial for students in elementary and middle school, with the exception, of course, of research sponsored by the very corporations that stand to profit.”
Under the new AI policy, the school system will “fully discontinue or disable more” than 38 AI features that were part of previously allowed programs that don’t meet the new standards, Mamdani said. Ailish Brady, the deputy mayor’s senior education adviser, said that includes an AI reading assistant called Amira, Politico noted.
