{"slug": "the-largest-school-system-in-the-u-s-just-banned-ai-for-students-through-8th", "title": "The largest school system in the U.S. just banned AI for students through 8th grade", "summary": "New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday that the city's public schools, the largest school system in the U.S., will impose a one-year moratorium on generative AI tools for students through eighth grade, the most expansive prohibition in the country. The policy also establishes twice-yearly AI literacy classes for high school students, pilot programs for supervised AI use, and a ban on companion chatbots across all grades, while the Los Angeles Unified School District has similarly blocked generative AI on student devices across all grades.", "body_md": "New York City’s public schools will temporarily ban elementary and middle school students from [using generative artificial intelligence tools](https://www.fastcompany.com/91589122/how-pearson-is-trying-to-make-ai-actually-useful-for-students) during the upcoming school year, [Mayor Zohran Mamdani](https://www.fastcompany.com/91468255/mayor-mamdani-pledges-govern-nyc-expansively-audaciously-inaugural-speech) announced Wednesday.\n\nThe one-year moratorium — part of a broader assessment of how children in the nation’s largest school system interact with the technology — will apply to “all software that uses student-facing generative [AI](https://www.fastcompany.com/section/artificial-intelligence)” for students through eighth grade, the mayor’s office said. It described the policy as the most expansive prohibition in the country.\n\nAt the same time, the city will establish twice-yearly [AI literacy classes](https://www.fastcompany.com/91593587/ai-literacy-buzzword-back-school-season-teachers-aim-balanced-approach) for all public high school students. It will also launch pilot programs allowing some high school students to use a handful of AI platforms under an educator’s supervision. [Companion chatbots](https://www.fastcompany.com/91369689/teens-using-ai-companions-and-some-prefer-them-to-people) will be prohibited across all grades, officials said.\n\nThe approach comes as students, parents and schools across the country attempt to navigate the use of [AI tools in the classroom](https://www.fastcompany.com/91555186/ai-is-in-nearly-every-classroom) and elsewhere. Schools are working to teach children [how to incorporate the technology](https://www.fastcompany.com/91527426/the-future-of-ai-in-schools-isnt-personalized-learning) while preventing them from relying too heavily on it or [using it to cheat](https://www.fastcompany.com/91403516/schools-ai-policies-cheating).\n\n“Each day when our children come to school, we teach them to ask questions, to challenge assumptions, to interrogate the premise, to ask why. When it comes to AI in our schools, we hold an obligation to do the same,” Mamdani, a Democrat, said at a news conference.\n\nThe Los Angeles school district, where students returned to classrooms in mid-August, is temporarily blocking access to generative AI tools on student devices across all grades.\n\nThe Los Angeles Unified School District said Wednesday that the ban will remain in place across the country’s second-largest school district as officials develop a student AI policy during the school year.\n\nIn June, LAUSD became the first major school district to eliminate the use of school-issued devices for its youngest students as part of a sweeping screen time policy. The policy banned devices before second grade, set screen time limits for all grades and blocked YouTube and other social media sites during the school day.\n\nIn New York, the city will also recommend screen time limits for students, suggesting a daily cap of 30 minutes for students in grades three through five and 45 minutes for those in grades six through eight. Teachers will be allowed to use AI for instructional planning and operational tasks.\n\nAt least 37 states have official AI guidance that schools can use as a blueprint, though there is no single definition of AI literacy or consensus on how it should be taught. New York state last year approved a ban on students’ use of cellphones in schools.\n\nCity education officials will also conduct a broad review of all technology tools used in the school system and eliminate those deemed nonessential to learning.\n\nMichael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers in New York, praised the screen time limits but said the city’s AI policy “leaves many questions unanswered,” including how the Education Department “will be more aggressive in demanding the products it purchases have AI safeguards.”\n\nJosh Golin, executive director of the children’s advocacy group Fairplay, said he would have preferred a longer moratorium and more time between the announcement and the start of the school year.\n\n“A year to evaluate is not nearly enough time,” he said, adding that the onus should be on AI platforms “to demonstrate that their products are effective at teaching kids, that they’re safe, that they’re not displacing face-to-face interaction and that they’re not leading to rampant cheating.”\n\nNew York City public school students are scheduled to return to classrooms next week.\n\nAssociated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker contributed to this report.\n\n*—Anthony Izaguirre, Associated Press*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-largest-school-system-in-the-u-s-just-banned-ai-for-students-through-8th", "canonical_source": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91601432/largest-school-system-u-s-just-banned-ai-students-through-8th-grade", "published_at": "2026-09-03 13:00:58+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-03 13:52:39.429241+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["Zohran Mamdani", "New York City public schools", "Los Angeles Unified School District", "United Federation of Teachers", "Michael Mulgrew", "Fairplay", "Josh Golin"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-largest-school-system-in-the-u-s-just-banned-ai-for-students-through-8th", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-largest-school-system-in-the-u-s-just-banned-ai-for-students-through-8th.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-largest-school-system-in-the-u-s-just-banned-ai-for-students-through-8th.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-largest-school-system-in-the-u-s-just-banned-ai-for-students-through-8th.jsonld"}}