New York City has announced a one-year moratorium on artificial intelligence tools for most public school students, marking one of the strictest AI restrictions introduced by a major US school district.
The policy will affect around 600,000 students from elementary school through eighth grade. It aims to limit the use of AI in classrooms while officials assess how the technology should be used in education.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the measure on Wednesday, saying children need direct interaction with teachers and classmates to develop essential skills.
“Children need teachers and human connection in order to learn and grow,” Mamdani said during a press conference.
He said students need opportunities to work alongside their peers, develop relationships with educators and solve difficult problems independently.
Around 40 AI Tools to Be Halted
Under the new policy, New York City schools will stop the current use of about 40 educational AI tools in classrooms.
The move makes the city’s public school system one of the most restrictive major districts in the United States when it comes to student AI use.
The policy applies mainly to students through eighth grade. High school students will still be permitted to use AI in certain circumstances.
Teachers, however, will continue to have access to AI tools for professional tasks.
According to the city, educators will be allowed to use AI for activities such as lesson planning and scheduling.
Major AI companies, including Google, Anthropic and Microsoft, had not immediately commented on the announcement.
New York Previously Banned ChatGPT
The latest decision is not New York City’s first attempt to restrict AI in schools.
The city’s public school system previously introduced a temporary ban on ChatGPT shortly after the chatbot became widely available in 2022.
That restriction was later removed as officials shifted toward exploring ways to use artificial intelligence in education.
The school system subsequently adopted a custom AI-powered teaching assistant, according to Microsoft, which is a partner of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
The latest moratorium signals another major shift in the city’s approach to artificial intelligence.
Officials now appear focused on determining where AI can support education without replacing the human interaction and independent learning considered essential to children’s development.
