New York City is putting strict limits on how its youngest public school students can use artificial intelligence in the classroom.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels announced Wednesday a one-year ban on student-facing generative AI tools for children from early childhood through eighth grade. The policy, described as the largest school prohibition of its kind in the country, will take effect when students return Sept. 10.
The restrictions will affect roughly 600,000 students, about two-thirds of the city's public school enrollment. AI companion chatbots will also be prohibited across all grades, including high school.
"Children need teachers and human connection in order to learn and grow," Mamdani and Samuels said in a joint 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 AI-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary," they added. "We do not see it that way."
Samuels said the moratorium "will help restore the critical thinking skills students need to graduate" and promised the city would "make sure technology serves learning — not the other way around."
The new rules extend beyond AI. Students in grades three through five will be limited to 30 minutes of screen time per day, while middle school students will have a 45-minute daily cap. Individual device use will largely be prohibited for students from pre-K through second grade.
Exceptions will be made for assistive technology, English language learner accommodations, coding, robotics, e-books and computer-based reading and math assessments.
High schoolers will face restrictions rather than a complete AI ban, with access remaining for certain literacy programs, career and certification courses and five pilot programs. Students will also receive AI critical-thinking modules twice a year.
Teachers can use approved AI tools for tasks such as lesson planning, translation and drafting communications but cannot use them for grading, behavior monitoring, counseling, special education planning or decisions involving promotion and graduation.
The policy follows growing pressure from parents and elected officials concerned about AI's impact on students. Thousands of parents reportedly signed petitions, while more than half of the City Council previously urged the administration to pause AI use in schools.
United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said the AI policy "leaves many questions unanswered," despite welcoming the screen-time restrictions.
A coalition of parents, students, teachers, union representatives and experts will evaluate the moratorium throughout the school year and help shape the city's approach after the one-year pause ends.
