New York City principals have been ordered to pause purchases of any new education technology software as the nation’s largest school system continues to wrestle with an AI policy amid a growing backlash.
In an email to principals Monday, Chancellor Kamar Samuels instructed principals to hold off on purchases until later this summer when the department plans to share “updated guidance” on AI and the use of screens in schools for the coming year.
“We know that we must prepare our children to thrive in a world increasingly shaped by new technology. We also recognize the need to consistently provide a safe, developmentally appropriate system with robust transparency and oversight,” he wrote.
The move is the latest example of the education department’s struggle to come up with an approach to the disruptive technology. The department released draft guidance on AI in March, which was criticized as inadequate. Officials then said they were reconsidering the policies.
Thousands of parents have called for a moratorium on the use of artificial intelligence in schools, citing concerns about the cognitive impact for kids, privacy and harm to the environment.
Meanwhile, schools throughout the city have wildly different approaches to AI, with some educators resisting use of the technology while others seek to help students’ develop AI literacy, seeing it as an inevitability.
In a speech in May, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten called for a ban on AI in elementary schools, and no chatbots for kids under 16. She also called for a screen ban in pre-K through second grade.
That represented a shift from the powerful union. Last year, the union opened an AI training center in Lower Manhattan in partnership with Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic.
The unease with AI comes amid growing pessimism about technology’s impact on student learning and mental health. Social media and educational technology companies are facing lawsuits filed by parents and school districts over allegations of addictive algorithms and data privacy breaches. Some parents have been pressing for far fewer screens in schools.
For many of those critics, the city’s draft AI guidance released in March seemed out of step. The guidance outlined a “traffic light approach” where educators are barred from using AI for deciding grades, promotions, discipline and counseling but could use it for some communications with families and lesson planning.
The playbook was vague about the most central questions about how students use AI in schools, saying educators should use “caution” when determining whether students should use it for research and projects.
At the time, Kelly Clancy, founder of Parents for AI Caution in Educational Spaces, denounced the draft guidance, saying it would endanger children’s brain development and learning.
“There are huge cognitive and developmental problems with offloading your thinking to AI,” she said.
Samuels has since said that officials are reconsidering the approach. He said the initial guidance was largely the product of plans set in motion by the Adams administration.
“We are now working to develop a longer term, more robust policy based on our spring public feedback process,” Samuels wrote to principals this week.
In a statement, education department spokesperson Nicole Brownstein said the pause on purchasing new education software is necessary “to ensure proper protocols are in place” in terms of safety and privacy.
