NYC's AI ban through grade 8 sets stage for rest of US, experts say Share NYC's AI ban through grade 8 sets stage for rest of US, experts say on social media New York City's ban on use of artificial intelligence in the classroom for elementary and middle school students in the city's public school system - the largest in the country - could set the stage for how other school systems in the United States tailor their approach to the use of AI, experts say. The moratorium, which was announced on Wednesday, will last for one year and will end the use of 40 different educational tools impacting 600,000 students. The ban will not bar teachers from using the technology to create lesson plans. They need to develop skills alongside their peers, build relationships with educators and wrestle with tough problems on their own," Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a news conference on Wednesday. "The tech industry wants us to believe that AI-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary.

Plus: New York City has banned AI in elementary and middle schools. Digital harms have become the defining fear of American parents. In response, they're increasingly turning to content-monitoring apps that scan their children's texts, photos, emails, and chats, issuing alerts whenever an algorithm flags something it deems dangerous. These tools have had genuine successes, preventing suicide attempts, intercepting predators, and averting school shootings. But they can also cause harm themselves, from false alarms and unnecessary interventions to damaged trust and anxiety. Child-safety researchers say better approaches exist.

Kids "need to wrestle with tough problems on their own," New York's mayor said Wednesday. Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds a press conference to announce a one-year moratorium on student AI usage in NYC public schools. Get your news from a source that's not owned and controlled by oligarchs. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a one-year moratorium on AI use for elementary and middle school students on Wednesday. The decision, which comes a week before New York City public schools begin the year, "includes all software that uses student-facing generative AI." Elementary and middle school students--about 600,000 students in total--will Companion chatbots will also be prohibited for all grade levels. The city is also introducing biannual AI critical thinking training for high schoolers that cover determining what is and is not AI, impacts on careers and future skills, and AI-related biases, among others, along with limited pilot programs for a few classes per high school that incorporate AI tools into students' learning "under the direct supervision of a trained educator."

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani just announced a one-year ban of generative AI tools in public schools for students up to eighth grade. The legislation takes effect during the 2026-2027 school year and will impact around 600,000 students. "This moratorium is a commitment to getting the future right," Mayor Mamdani said. "We will embrace new technology, but only when it serves our students." New York Governor Kathy Hochul added that the state "has been leading the way in our efforts to keep kids focused on learning and growing -- not clicking and scrolling."

Teachers and parents have warned against AI use in schools over concerns of'cognitive surrender' New York City will ban students' use of artificial intelligence in public schools through eighth grade, typically age 13 or 14. The prohibition is scheduled to be announced on Wednesday and will go into effect next week. The change is part of a sweeping overhaul of the use of technology in the US's largest school district, which enrolls roughly 900,000 students a year. In another policy shift, classrooms will keep students off laptops or tablets through the third grade, age nine or 10. The city's public school technology policies are closely watched by the rest of the United States.

The deepfake epidemic in schools is affecting more than students. Four teachers tell WIRED about becoming targets of sexualized, AI-generated content--and how difficult it was to find accountability. For Luis DeSantiago, a substitute teacher in Los Banos, California, it started with a few text messages. On March 12, as he was working his other part-time job at a coffee shop, his phone lit up. A fellow barista said there was an AI photo circulating on social media. Her cousin wanted to know if it was DeSantiago.

UC Berkeley professor admits to using AI to edit op-ed on students' math skills Zvezdelina Stankova says she used AI to'help edit' an article about some of her students being'five to eight years' behind A math professor at the University of California, Berkeley, criticizing a "severe" math deficiency among students in an op-ed for the San Francisco Standard, admitted to using artificial intelligence to help edit the piece. The Standard published a 2,000-word piece by Zvezdelina Stankova last week, in which the professor said some of her math students were "five to eight years" behind and lacked a "middle school" education on fractions and basic algebra. Stankova said the UC system's test-blind admissions were to blame, suggesting that students who weren't sufficiently prepared for the rigor of Berkeley's mathematics program were admitted because a longstanding benchmark like the SAT had disappeared. Over the weekend, journalists at Berkeley's student newspaper, the Daily Californian, noticed the op-ed's language sounded like AI . According to Berkeley sophomore Francis Luo, they ran it through AI-detection software Pangram, which claimed 33% of the op-ed had been generated or assisted by AI.

Schools in the US are installing vape-detection tech in bathrooms to thwart student nicotine and cannabis use. A new investigation reveals the impact of using spying to solve a problem. It was in physical education class when Laila Gutierrez swapped out self-harm for a new vice. The freshman from Phoenix had long struggled with depression and would cut her arms to feel something. The first drag from a friend's vape several years ago offered the shy teenager a new way to escape. She quit cutting but got hooked on nicotine. Her sadness got harder to carry after her uncle died, and she felt she couldn't turn to her grieving parents for comfort. Bumming fruity vapes at school became part of her routine. "I would ask my friends who had them, 'I'm going through a lot, can I use it?'" Gutierrez, now 18, told The 74. "Or'I failed my test and I feel like smoking would be better than cutting my wrists.'"

When news broke that AI-generated nude pictures of students were popping up at a Beverly Hills Middle School in February, many district officials and parents were horrified. But others said no one should have been blindsided by the spread of AI-powered "undressing" programs. "The only thing shocking about this story," one Carlsbad parent said his 14-year-old told him, "is that people are shocked." Now, a newly released report by Thorn, a tech company that works to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material, shows how common deepfake abuse has become. The proliferation coincides with the wide availability of cheap "undressing" apps and other easy-to-use, AI-powered programs to create deepfake nudes.

A middle school in Beverly Hills, California, is investigating the circulation of nude photos of students generated by artificial intelligence (AI). Staff at Beverly Vista Middle School were alerted last week to the dissemination of images that superimposed the faces of some of its students using AI. "We want to make it unequivocally clear that this behavior is unacceptable and does not reflect the values of our school community," the district said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "Although we are aware of similar situations occurring all over the nation, we must act now. This behavior rises to a level that requires the entire community to work in partnership to ensure it stops immediately."