A 11662: Prohibits humanoid robots and AI systems from being used in schools; provides limited exceptions; provides for student privacy protections; makes related provisions.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 11662  IN ASSEMBLY July 31, 2026 ___________ Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Tapia) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to human-led instruction and artificial intelligence in schools The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 305-a 2 to read as follows: 3 § 305-a. Human-led instruction and artificial intelligence in schools. 4 1. Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms shall 5 have the following meanings: 6 (a) "Artificial intelligence system" means a machine-based system that 7 can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, 8 recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments, 9 and that uses machine- and human-based inputs to perceive real and 10 virtual environments, abstract such perceptions into models through 11 analysis in an automated manner, and use model inference to formulate 12 options for information or action. 13 (b) "Humanoid robot" means any programmable robotic device designed to 14 physically resemble a human being and capable of autonomous or semi-au- 15 tonomous verbal or physical interaction with students. 16 (c) "Instructional setting" means any classroom, laboratory, instruc- 17 tional space, library, learning center, virtual classroom, or other 18 location where educational instruction or school-sponsored academic 19 activities are provided to students. 20 2. Prohibition on humanoid robots. No school district, board of coop- 21 erative educational services, charter school, nonpublic school, or any 22 employee, contractor, or agent thereof shall purchase, lease, deploy, 23 employ, contract for, or otherwise utilize a humanoid robot within an 24 instructional setting. A humanoid robot shall not: 25 (a) deliver instruction; 26 (b) facilitate classroom activities; 27 (c) answer instructional questions; 28 (d) supervise students; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD16204-01-6 
 A. 11662 2 1 (e) assess or evaluate student performance; 2 (f) provide behavioral or disciplinary supervision; 3 (g) provide counseling or social-emotional support; or 4 (h) otherwise interact with students in an instructional setting. 5 3. Limited exceptions. (a) The provisions of subdivision two of this 6 section shall not prohibit the temporary presence or operation of a 7 humanoid robot solely: 8 (i) as part of a course of study in robotics, engineering, computer 9 science, artificial intelligence systems, or substantially similar tech- 10 nical education; 11 (ii) during scientific demonstrations, exhibitions, museum programs, 12 or research activities; or 13 (iii) for maintenance, testing, repair, or transportation unrelated to 14 classroom instruction. 15 (b) Nothing contained in this subdivision shall be construed to 16 authorize a humanoid robot to perform any instructional, supervisory, 17 counseling, evaluative, or classroom management function. 18 4. Human-led instruction. (a) No school district, board of cooperative 19 educational services, charter school, or nonpublic school shall utilize 20 an artificial intelligence system, chatbot, avatar, virtual assistant, 21 or substantially similar technology as the primary instructor in any 22 instructional setting. 23 (b) All instructional settings shall remain under the direction and 24 control of a certified educator or other appropriately authorized school 25 employee. 26 (c) Artificial intelligence systems may be utilized solely as supple- 27 mental instructional resources under the direct supervision of a certi- 28 fied educator. 29 5. Student privacy protections. (a) No artificial intelligence system 30 utilized by a school district, board of cooperative educational 31 services, charter school, or nonpublic school shall collect, retain, 32 sell, license, disclose, transfer, or otherwise use: 33 (i) biometric identifiers or biometric information; 34 (ii) facial recognition data; 35 (iii) voiceprints; 36 (iv) iris scans; 37 (v) retinal scans; 38 (vi) fingerprints; 39 (vii) gait recognition data; 40 (viii) emotional recognition, affect recognition, or emotion inference 41 data; or 42 (ix) personally identifiable student information for the purpose of 43 training, improving, testing, or developing any artificial intelligence 44 model or for any commercial purpose. 45 (b) Student prompts, conversations, audio recordings, written communi- 46 cations, or other interactions with an artificial intelligence system 47 shall not be retained following completion of an instructional session 48 and shall not be used for advertising, profiling, commercialization, 49 artificial intelligence model training, or any purpose unrelated to the 50 immediate instructional setting. 51 (c) No school district, board of cooperative educational services, 52 charter school, or nonpublic school shall require a student to consent 53 to the collection of information prohibited by this subdivision as a 54 condition of participating in any educational program or activity. 55 6. Annual certification. Each school district, board of cooperative 56 educational services, charter school, and nonpublic school utilizing 
 A. 11662 3 1 artificial intelligence systems shall annually certify to the commis- 2 sioner that such artificial intelligence systems comply with the 3 provisions of this section. 4 7. Rules and regulations. The commissioner shall promulgate any rules 5 and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section. 6 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 7 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 8 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 9 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 10 completed on or before such effective date.