High schoolers to receive twice-yearly AI literacy classes and supervised platform pilots
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday that the city’s public schools will temporarily bar elementary and middle school students from using artificial intelligence tools during the upcoming school year, part of what his office described as a wider assessment of how children in the nation’s largest school district interact with the technology.
The one-year moratorium covers “all software that uses student-facing generative AI” for students in grades through 8th, the mayor’s office said. The administration described the policy as the most expansive school AI prohibition in the country.
At the same time, the city will establish twice-yearly AI literacy classes for all public high school students, the mayor’s office said. Some high schoolers will also participate in supervised pilots introducing them to a handful of AI platforms under the supervision of an educator, according to the announcement.
Companion chatbots will be prohibited across all grade levels, officials said.
The policy takes effect with the upcoming academic year. New York City’s public school system is the nation’s largest, the mayor’s office said.