Next week, a 14-year-old in New York City could ask an AI chatbot to explain their homework the moment they leave school. But under the city’s new policy, they won’t be allowed to do the same, inside school, even with trained supervision.
Wednesday, Mayor Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels announced that for the coming school year, students in 2-K through eighth grade are prohibited to use AI in school, while high schoolers will have extremely limited access, just nine to 24 hours in the entire year. The administration calls it “the most expansive AI ban in the country.”
I understand that there are reasons to be hesitant about using AI in schools. Generative AI can produce false information, reinforce bias, threaten privacy, and make it easier for students to outsource work they should be learning to do themselves. Students deserve strong protections.
But I also know that AI is a significant part of our city’s current and future economy. Indeed, a report released just last week found that for the first time, NYC has more tech jobs than the Bay Area. Many of us have worked for many years to reach this milestone. Our challenge now is to ensure we navigate this transition to benefit all New Yorkers.
By banning students as old as 14 from using AI in school, with proper adult oversight, we already risk holding these young New Yorkers behind.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers indicates that more than one-third of entry-level job listings now require specific AI skills, nearly tripling previous tracking periods. Middle schoolers do not need to become AI experts, but they should be learning how to assess AI and when to rely on their own judgement sooner rather than later.
Even more, a 2-K to 8 prohibition runs up against the reality that young people are already using AI. Nearly nine in 10 report using these tools, including for homework and learning. Keeping AI out of classrooms won’t keep it out of students’ lives. Instead, it risks leaving students to learn about AI from social media and technology companies rather than trusted educators.
It also risks repeating a mistake we made a decade ago, letting young New Yorkers have unfettered access to social media, without oversight from teachers and other responsible adults. We learned the risks of putting our heads in the sand when a new technology becomes available, and we should not make the same mistake again.
To be sure, this is a complex topic, and Mamdani and Samuels deserve credit for listening to many different voices throughout this process. The task force they announced along with the new rules is another chance to bring different perspectives into this conversation and learn from one another. I’m proud to be a member and bring the technology community’s perspective to the table.
Over the coming year, our coalition should help the city identify approved tools, train teachers, develop age-appropriate safeguards, and test carefully supervised classroom uses. Most importantly, it should give the administration a clear path to reconsider the K to 8 prohibition before the next school year. We can protect younger students while giving them opportunities to learn about the technology they will encounter in their future.
AI isn’t waiting for students to graduate and New York shouldn’t either. The nation’s largest public school system has an opportunity to set a national standard for age-appropriate, responsible AI education. Our schools should be preparing students for the world that is already here.
Samuels is president and CEO of Tech:NYC, and serves on the Mayor’s Technology in Schools Coalition.