New York City to ban AI in public schools through eighth grade

• New York City will ban AI use in public schools for students through eighth grade, allowing limited use only in high school.
• Concerns include risks to children's mental health, cognitive development and environmental impact; AI chatbots for psychological support will also be banned.
• The education department will form a task force to create future AI policies, responding to parent and teacher feedback after an initial lenient framework caused controversy.

NEW YORK – New York City will ban the use of artificial intelligence for students in public schools through eighth grade, according to a source close to the matter, confirming US media reports.

Teachers and parents have warned against the use of AI in schools over concerns about harming children’s mental health and cognitive development, as well as environmental damage.

AI use will only be allowed in high school, which begins in the ninth grade in the American school system, the source said.

Even then, it will be limited to specific uses, such as learning about the technology itself, they said.

Eighth graders in the US are typically about 13 years old.

According to The New York Times, AI “companion chatbots” offering psychological support will also be banned.

The rules, however, allow teachers to use AI for tasks including preparing lessons or writing messages.

The new rules are to be announced on Sept 2, the Times reported.

The city’s education department recommends limiting screen time to 45 minutes in class for middle schoolers – sixth through eighth grade – and 30 minutes for elementary school students.

But the question remains of how to monitor AI use, since it often takes place outside the school environment.

The new rules follow an initial framework published in March, which used a traffic light system to determine which tasks AI would be used for.

The framework, which allowed students to use AI for research, exploration and creative projects, sparked fury among many parents and teachers who considered it too lenient.

In response, the city’s schools chancellor Kamar Samuels said leaders “missed the mark” in their communications, adding his office would carefully review parents’ feedback for incorporation into future rules.

The city had long planned to follow the March framework with a more comprehensive “guidebook” to take feedback into account, the education department has said.

The department will set up a task force made up of teachers, elected officials, experts and union representatives.

The task force is to produce a report in April, intended to serve as the basis for New York’s AI-in-schools policy.

The city’s public school technology policies are closely watched by the rest of the United States, as it is by far the largest school district in the country, with over 900,000 students in 2024–2025. AFP