AI Goes to School

The New York Times reports that 2026 is shaping up to be the year AI truly arrives in American classrooms — and New York City is at the center of the debate.

Schools across the country have been experimenting with AI tutoring, automated grading, and personalized learning plans. But as these tools move from pilot programs to citywide rollouts, parents and educators are pushing back.

The core tension: AI tutors can provide individualized attention that overcrowded classrooms can't, but at what cost? Critics worry about data privacy, the erosion of human teaching relationships, and the risk of encoding biases into education at scale.

Mayor Mamdani faces pressure from both sides — tech advocates who see AI as the solution to education inequality, and families who see it as an experiment being run on their children.