New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani's decision to declare a one-year moratorium on the use of artificial intelligence in classrooms has been criticised as regressive and anti-technology. While it has its share of supporters, critics have compared Mr Mamdani's moratorium on "student-facing generative AI" – from kindergarten to Grade 8 – to the "calculator panic" of the 1970s and '80s, when parents and educators voiced concern about bringing the electronic devices into the classroom.The Democratic Mayor announced on Wednesday that the moratorium was designed to ensure children would learn from teachers first and not become reliant on AI, giving education officials time to study the effects of AI on classrooms. “Children need teachers and human connection in order to learn and grow. They need to develop skills alongside their peers, build relationships with educators and wrestle with tough problems on their own,” he told reporters. "The tech industry wants us to believe that AI-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary. We do not see it that way."'Wildly misguided'?Mr Mamdani's decision comes as recent polls in the US show that although AI use is increasingly prevalent, concerns about its effects on labour markets, the environment and overall societal norms are on the rise. The AI innovation race between the US and China is heating up, and those who regard the techno...
This page contains an attributed headline and the preview text supplied through the publisher’s RSS feed. Copyright in the original reporting belongs to The National.
