New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood at a podium today (Sep. 2) and said the words “moratorium on generative AI” to a national audience. To those fighting to ban artificial intelligence in schools across the country, this moment was huge.
Mamdani, speaking alongside NYC Chancellor Kamar Samuels, announced the new comprehensive, human-first AI policy for the nation’s largest school district. “The tech industry wants us to believe that A.I.-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary,” Mamdani said to press. “We do not see it that way.”
The new guidelines — an update to a system-wide AI rulebook launched in March — include a ban on chatbots and a one-year pause on the use of AI tools for students in pre-K through the eighth grade. The guidelines also bar individualized screen time for pre-K through second grade. The city says around 38 programs were flagged by the district as violating new policies following an audit of the system’s current EdTech, which will either be removed entirely or have their AI features “disabled.”
New York City’s new policies are some of the strictest AI guidelines in the state, potentially nationwide.
Nationwide call for AI bans
New York City schools are not the first to place limits on AI use among students, following a concerted, nationwide effort from parents, educators, and child safety advocates who have joined together to call for moratoriums on the technology and a hard line on tech usage in classrooms.
One such group is the AI Moratorium (AIM) Coalition, made up of local and national parent organizations like environmental group Climate Families NYC, Class Size Matters, and the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy. The AIM Coalition has been on the front lines of the fight in NYC. In April and July, the group held public rallies urging the mayor’s office to intervene in proposed AI adoption across the NYC school system.
The group has gathered more than 6,000 signatures on a petition to the mayor’s office calling for a two year AI moratorium across city schools, and penned a second letter to Mamdani on behalf of the group NYC Artists Against AI. The letter has been signed by more than 200 creatives, including actors Elliot Page and Mark Ruffalo and Broad City stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobsen.
“We are excited about the fact that our youngest learners won’t be exposed to artificial intelligence,” said Dr. Kaliris Salas, member of the AIM Coalition and Racially Just Public Schools, during a press call following the announcement. “We are also concerned about our older learners.”
NYC’s AI policy has glaring gaps, advocates say
“There are a lot of holes in the policy, if we are being honest,” said Liat Olenick, AIM Coalition and Climate Families NYC organizer. “But Kindergartners will not be talking to chatbots this fall, and that is huge progress. We made that change this year.”
First, advocates say, one year is not enough. “We are calling for an inclusive, democratic, deliberative process including parents, students, and educators to collectively develop an evidence-backed AI and EdTech policy for our schools,” said Kyle DeAngelis of the Movement of Rank and File Educators. “One year is not long enough for that process to play out with the depth and care it requires.”
While the new policy bans access to general chatbots like Gemini and ChatGPT, it also includes carveouts for AI-powered tools that already exist in classroom management and education software, referred to as “boxed” curricula.
NYC leaders have not provided information about access to Google Search, for example, which child safety advocates have recently flagged as a backdoor to genAI chatbot access. In addition, Leonie Haimson of the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy said the district is still allowing access to YouTube despite widespread backlash.
“We are the largest school district in the country and can use our purchasing power to demand tools that turn off AI,” said Dr. Kelly Clancy of Parents for AI Caution in Educational Spaces (PACES). “It’s also a reason we need regulation of Big Tech as a precondition of exposing kids across the country to these products.”
The policy still allows unlimited staff use of generative AI, advocates flagged, as well as unclear mechanisms for evaluating AI products, contracts, and spending.
Significantly, the guidelines do not cover high school classrooms. The city confirmed to AIM Coalition Steering Committee members on Sept. 1 that it’s currently piloting AI programs in 180 high schools. Leadership did not say which schools were involved in programs. The coalition told reporters that they did not get clear answers on curriculum or formal opt-out policies for new AI technologies among high schoolers.
NYC high school students joined the AIM Coalition press call to urge the district to expand its policies. “I’m upset that the high school students were left behind,” said rising junior and organizer Ariana Ahmed Misha.
“We need to consent. We need to have the choice to say no,” said student and organizer Yelani Joseph. Joseph’s school is one of the 180 testing AI tools in the classroom. Ahmed Misha and Joseph have both appealed directly to the chancellor to improve AI policies, including AI literacy programs, across NYC.
In responses to questions posed by coalition members during the Sept. 1 meeting, NYC schools clarified that screen time limits are recommendations, not mandates, for grades 3-8.
During a Sept. 2 press call, the city also backtracked on a promise to revoke students’ access to Amira, a controversial AI-powered software that the district had said it would ban just a day prior. Now, the city plans to limit access to specific AI features in the app.
David Monahan, campaign director of child safety nonprofit Fairplay, said in a statement that the policy had too many exceptions and failed to address racial bias and the environmental impacts of AI.
“There are still a lot of open questions,” said Edgar Alfonseca, member of the NYC DSA Tech Action Working Group. Alfonseca and many other child safety advocates are critical of the influence of Big Tech in classrooms, particularly the high dollar amount spent on deals between districts and AI companies. “We don’t see this policy addressing the fundamental problem, which is that EdTech and Big Tech companies are able to reap tremendous profit from public school system dollars.”
Advocates feel they still need to remain vigilant despite the progress.
“They are building the plane as it is flying,” said Clancy.