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🇻🇳 Vietnam /Technology

New York bans AI use for eighth-graders and younger over fears children will ‘outsource their thinking’

From Tuổi Trẻ · () Vietnamese

Translated from Vietnamese and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • New York City will ban public-school students in eighth grade and below from using AI starting next week.
  • Officials and families fear AI could harm children’s mental health and cognitive development by encouraging them to rely on software for reasoning.
  • Teachers may still use AI for lesson plans and notices, but not to grade students’ work; the city is preparing broader long-term guidance.

New York City is drawing a hard line on artificial intelligence in its public schools: students will not be allowed to use AI through eighth grade, as officials confront fears that children may hand over their thinking to software.

The ban, announced on Sept. 2 and due to take effect next week, forms part of a broad overhaul of technology use in the nation’s largest public-school system. About 900,000 students attend New York City public schools each year.

Teachers and parents have raised concerns that AI-enabled educational software could affect children’s mental health and cognitive development. One concern is what researchers call “cognitive surrender”, the gradual tendency to leave reasoning tasks to software. Students will therefore gain access to AI only upon entering high school, beginning in ninth grade.

The rules still allow teachers to use AI for tasks such as preparing lesson plans and writing notices. They may not use it to grade students’ assignments. The city has also issued recommendations on classroom screen time: students in third grade and below should not use laptops or tablets in class, while recommended daily limits stand at 30 minutes for grades three through five and 45 minutes for grades six through eight.

New York’s policy has shifted several times. The public-school system banned ChatGPT in 2023, then lifted the restriction less than a year later. In 2026, the city introduced guidelines allowing students to use AI for research, learning and creative projects. Many teachers and parents strongly opposed those rules, calling them too permissive. Kamar Samuels, who heads the city’s public-school system, acknowledged that officials had “not communicated the focus correctly” and said they would consider parents’ views. The Education Department is preparing a more comprehensive handbook and has created a task force to produce a report for long-term AI policy.

not communicated the focus correctly

· Kamar SamuelsThe head of New York City’s public-school system acknowledged criticism of earlier AI guidance and said officials would consider parents’ views.
About this summary

Originally published by Tuổi Trẻ in Vietnamese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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