[AI?. Photo Credit: Unsplash]

New York City and Los Angeles, the two largest public school districts in the United States, announced their new policies regarding restrictions on students’ use of artificial intelligence in early September 2026. 

On September 2, New York City announced a one year moratorium on students facing generative AI for students in 2-K through 8th grade during the 2026-27 school year.

High school students will still be able to use certain approved AI’s, however, only under supervision by their teachers rather than through unrestricted access to chatbots.

At the same time, every New York City public high school student will be required to complete two 45-minute AI-literacy lessons covering topics such as how AI works, data privacy, bias, and appropriate usage in school.

The NYCPS says that the restrictions are intended to preserve students’ creativity and problem solving skills while dealing with concerns that generative AI can produce inaccurate or biased information and encourage students to rely on technology instead of working on difficult problems themselves. 

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Unified School District has taken a different approach by placing a moratorium on AI on devices owned by the district for the current school year.

However, the moratorium applies specifically to district-owned devices, and they had not established a policy regarding students’ use of generative AI on their personal devices.

District officials say that when students access AI using their own devices while logged into their school district accounts, their activities can still be tracked.

However, this challenge extends beyond search engines as AI features are increasingly being integrated into commonly used digital tools, including Canva, PowerPoint, and other AI that assist students with visuals for their presentations.

Victor Lee, a professor in the graduate school of education at Stanford University who studies AI in education, told Education Week that it has become increasingly difficult to separate generative AI from ordinary technology, calling the situation “hard to disentangle.” 

However, others argue that the growing presence of AI should not prevent schools from attempting to restrict it, including Kelly Clancy, a New York City public-school parent and leader of Parents for AI Caution in Educational Spaces.

The debate is becoming more pressing as major tech companies continue to expand AI products for education, with Google announcing on June 25 that it was bringing Gemini in Classroom to students of all ages and giving access to tools that can help students study, take quizzes and work through learning materials. 

Education Week reported that the change gave some schools little time to determine how they wanted to monitor or restrict the technology, while MIT education-technology researcher Justin Reich noted that schools usually have more time to consider a new technology’s benefits and drawbacks before students gain access to it.

The policies in New York City and Los Angeles underscore that schools are no longer dealing only with separate AI chatbots, but also with AI features built into tools students may already use for searching, presenting and learning.

As generative AI becomes an increasingly common component of everyday technology, school districts may increasingly have to decide not simply whether AI is allowed, but which AI tools and uses should be restricted.