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NEW YORK (AFP)
New York is banning student use of artificial intelligence until high school, the city's mayor announced on Wednesday, in a move designed to protect children's education and mental health.
The one-year restriction, which impacts nearly 600,000 public school pupils through Grade 8, will be closely watched across the United States as the city's school board is by far the largest in the country.
Only high school students -- typically aged 14 and above -- will be permitted to use artificial intelligence in limited pilot programmes, and they will be offered biannual AI literacy classes.
Companion chatbots, designed specifically for emotional support, will be banned across all grades.
"The tech industry wants us to believe that AI-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary. We do not see it that way," Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement.
"Children need teachers and human connection in order to learn and grow. They need to develop skills alongside their peers, build relationships with educators and wrestle with tough problems on their own," he added.
Teachers will still be permitted to use AI for lesson planning and administrative tasks. Throughout the 2026-2027 school year, a task force of students, teachers, parents, elected officials and industry experts will meet to assess the impact of the moratorium before publishing its findings.
"We have a responsibility to ensure that rapidly-changing technology supports our children and their learning, rather than getting in the way of it," New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Wednesday.
