New York City schools ban AI for one year

New York City authorities have imposed a one-year temporary ban on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in public primary and secondary schools. Under the new policy, approximately 600,000 students up to eighth grade in public schools will not be able to use AI in classrooms.

The decision was taken to reduce technology dependence in classrooms and restore a human-centric communication and natural learning environment for students. According to a Reuters report, New York's decision is seen as one of the strictest measures among various school district initiatives across the United States.

At a press conference on Wednesday, New York City Mayor Johran Mamdani said the use of approximately 40 education-related AI tools currently used in city classrooms would be suspended immediately.

The mayor said that for children's learning and natural development, the presence of teachers and human relationships are important. Developing skills alongside classmates, building genuine relationships with teachers and learning to tackle difficult problems with one's own abilities are more crucial for students.

City authorities said under the new policy, about 600,000 students up to eighth grade in public schools will not be able to use AI in classrooms. However, higher secondary students will have the opportunity to use AI in specific cases. Teachers will also be permitted to use AI for administrative tasks such as lesson planning and scheduling.

Several other school districts in the US, including Los Angeles, are reviewing their policies on AI use in classrooms. New York's decision is therefore being seen as part of a broader reassessment by school authorities across the country regarding AI use.

Previously, in 2022, shortly after the launch of ChatGPT, New York City public schools had imposed a temporary ban on AI use. That ban was later lifted, and AI-powered specialised teaching assistants were introduced instead, according to Microsoft, a partner of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.

Google, Anthropic and Microsoft did not respond to Reuters' request for comment on the matter.