NYC Schools Take Drastic Steps on AI

The city’s public school system is set to roll out an expansive new policy on artificial intelligence ahead of the start of the 2026-2027 school year next week, instituting a ban on the use of the technology among students below ninth grade.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled the new one-year moratorium on generative AI at a Tuesday-morning press conference in Brooklyn alongside Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, describing the policy as “the most comprehensive of its kind anywhere in the country.”

“This moratorium is a commitment to getting the future right,” Mamdani said, speaking from the Brooklyn STEAM Center.

According to the New York Daily News, which first reported on the new policy, New York City Public Schools students from 2-K programs up through eighth grade will be barred from utilizing AI-based software programs, chatbots, and tutors as part of their daily learning. In addition, students from preschool to second grade won’t be allowed to have individual devices under the moratorium. Per the Daily News, city schools will also enforce limits on screen time, including capping third graders up to fifth graders to between 30 minutes a day, while older middle-school students could have up to 45 minutes.

Mamdani said that high-schoolers will have an opportunity to learn about AI in a controlled setting, revealing that the school system will pilot five “rigorously vetted” AI educational tools with 45-minute-a-week screen-time limits under monitored teacher supervision.

“But I want to be very clear. In no way shape or form will AI replace student-teacher interaction. It is the foundation of our students’ educational experience. That will not change,” the mayor said.

Samuels also revealed that every high-school student will be required to take an AI-literacy course twice a year, saying it’s intended to ensure students understand “what it means to think critically without a tool doing it for them.”

There are some exceptions to the policy. Chalkbeat reports that there will be accommodations for students with disabilities and those newly learning English. Assessment tests that are administered on computers will be factored in as well. Per the outlet, while educators can use some preapproved AI tools for certain administrative tasks like lesson planning, drafting communications, and translation, teachers will be barred from using the technology in the context of grading, developing special-education lesson plans, monitoring behavior, and counseling.

The sweeping new policy, which is expected to affect nearly 600,000 students in the nation’s largest public school system, might still fall short for some advocates. Various parent groups have pushed for a longer two-year ban on the technology. While the mayor noted that the policy is officially intended for a year, Mamdani said the city will “carefully monitor each of these programs and evaluate their impact and evaluate their success.”