SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Federation of Teachers on Wednesday urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to order a three-year pause on artificial intelligence in K-8 public school classrooms, citing concerns that schools are adopting AI tools without adequate protections for students and educators.

The call followed Newsom’s September executive order directing state agencies to develop AI safety regulations, including a potential “kill switch” for certain AI programs during emergencies.

In a news release, the union representing 120,000 educators and faculty urged Newsom to issue an executive order pausing AI use in classrooms before his term ends in January.

“Students’ brain development shouldn’t be monetized for billionaire profit,” CFT President Jeff Freitas said in a statement. “This is a public health and safety emergency, and we need our leaders to treat it as one and act now.”

As Newsom has largely embraced AI’s growth in California throughout his governorship, advocacy groups have urged him to impose stronger accountability and protections.

The union said they sent a letter to the outgoing California governor, warning that unregulated AI could harm students’ development and limit teachers’ control over instruction. Educators aren’t prepared to supervise AI use, while students may struggle to tell which tools are safe or harmful, the release said.

In the letter, the union asked Newsom to pause the AI usage and provide schools time to address those emerging concerns. The letter cited an MIT study linking ChatGPT use to weaker brain connectivity during essay writing, and a Wharton Healthcare Analytics Lab research that found students who used GPT-4 scored 17% lower on a later unassisted math test than students who hadn’t used it.

“The explosion of the AI industry is more than just market growth,” the letter read.

“Educators understand the urgency of these issues: the infusion of AI in education is happening at an ever-accelerating pace, and each week more alarming examples emerge of AI products leaking student data, failing to accurately complete the work they were designed for, costing teachers and staff invaluable time, and with dubious educational benefits for students.”

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