New York City is betting that younger children need more human connection and less algorithmic assistance, while some parents and advocacy groups argue the city’s new guardrails stop short of the tougher pause they wanted.

The Department of Education is set to roll out a one-year AI moratorium in the 2026–27 school year, covering students from 2-K through eighth grade — roughly 600,000 children, or about two-thirds of the city’s public-school enrollment. The policy makes New York’s school system one of the country’s most restrictive on classroom technology for younger pupils.¹

Mayor Zohran Mamdani cast the move as a defense of learning that cannot be outsourced. “Children need teachers and human connection in order to learn and grow,” he said, arguing that students must build relationships, work with peers and “wrestle with tough problems on their own.”² The administration rejects the idea that AI-powered early education is inevitable or necessary.

The restrictions extend beyond student prompts and chat windows. Teachers will be barred from using AI to grade assignments; individual screens will be prohibited until third grade; and companion chatbots offering emotional or mental-health support will be banned in every grade. The department is also recommending a 45-minute daily screen-time ceiling for middle-school students.¹

High school students will not receive a blank check. AI use will be allowed only in specified settings, alongside twice-yearly AI-literacy instruction. A small, vetted pilot in up to five high-school classes will test tools designed to keep students “as the primary thinker.” Teachers may still use AI for lesson planning, and exceptions may be granted for disability services, multilingual learners and programs such as computer science.²

Yet the policy has already drawn criticism from some parents and groups that had sought a two-year AI moratorium. For City Hall, the plan is a forceful first boundary; for its skeptics, it is not yet a long enough pause.¹