LaGuardia High Students Walk Out to Demand Freeze on AI

Nearly 100 students at LaGuardia High School, the Manhattan arts school that inspired the movie 'Fame,' walked out of class Tuesday to demand a freeze on artificial intelligence in education, Government Technology reported. The walkout was part of a day of coordinated anti-AI protests at Fordham University, SUNY Purchase, and Stony Brook.

'I think it's pretty telling that the people who have to protest against AI are the children, the students,' said Mieke Nievergelt, a LaGuardia senior. Nievergelt told the crowd, 'If you want to make art, it doesn't have to be good. It just has to be yours.' Sophomore Tobin Sorbello framed the career worry more plainly: 'Directors and music producers for TV shows and movies can just go to AI now.'

The protest lands against city policy that already draws a sharp line by grade. Mayor Mamdani and Chancellor Kamar Samuels implemented a one-year pause on generative AI through eighth grade; high schoolers can access limited AI through approved pilot programs or career training, with mandatory AI literacy training. 'For our high schoolers, our responsibility is different. It is increasingly part of the world and workforce they are about to enter,' Samuels said.

Students also singled out adult AI use inside their own building. Senior V.V. said the Parents Association was 'using Canva AI and ChatGPT to create their posters, when we have students dedicated to that.'