The Florida State Board of Education adopted new rules placing some of the nation\u2019s strictest guardrails on artificial intelligence in K-12 schools and colleges \u2014 banning companion AI, protecting student data, and putting parents in control of what technology their children use in the classroom.<\/p>\n
The rules apply to school districts, charter school boards, and Florida College System institutions. They do not ban AI outright but require it to support teachers and parents \u2014 not replace them.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlorida will not outsource childhood to a chatbot,\u201d said Gov. Ron DeSantis. \u201cWe welcome tools that help teachers teach and students learn. We will not accept tools that hide from parents, harvest student data, grade kids in secret, or pretend to be a friend. In this state, a teacher stands in front of the class, a parent has the last word, and a student still has to think.\u201d<\/p>\n
What the rules require<\/p>\n
Parents must be notified when an AI tool is approved for classroom use \u2014 including the tool\u2019s name, which courses use it, and how students will interact with it. Parents can opt their child in or choose a non-AI alternative. AI tools used in VPK through grade 5 face additional review for age and developmental appropriateness.<\/p>\n
The rules prohibit AI designed to simulate companionship or emotional relationships, undisclosed behavior monitoring, social scoring, psychological profiling, and vendors selling or using student data to train AI models.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI belongs in a classroom when it sharpens instruction, protects privacy, and leaves the student\u2019s own mind stronger than it found it,\u201d said Florida Education Commissioner Henry Mack. \u201cWe are preparing Floridians for an AI economy. We are not raising a generation that outsources judgment or rationality.\u201d<\/p>\n
What comes next<\/p>\n
Commissioner Mack directed the Florida Department of Education to update K-12 Computer Science standards and the Florida Digital Classrooms Plan \u2014 requiring districts to evaluate technology based on learning outcomes, not screen time, and to prove instructional value before purchasing or renewing tools.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not let a vendor turn a child into training data,\u201d said State Board of Education Chair Ryan Petty. \u201cInnovation without those conditions is not leadership. It is abdication.\u201d<\/p>\n
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