Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school • Hacker News Board

Re: Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school

#311

Post by grayhatter » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 1:58 AM UTC

theptip wrote: post #241

simonw wrote: post #56

> Pupils from first through seventh grade, aged 6 to 13, should as a general rule not be using AI, while those in lower secondary school, aged 14 to 16, can cautiously adopt tools under teachers' supervision, the government said. Sounds right to me. Kids under 13 need to learn to read, write and comprehend text. Generative AI is not going to help them with those skills. They can play with AI at home, and after 13 the…

> Generative AI is not going to help them with those skills. I think it's more complex than this. AI is both the best technology ever invented for avoiding learning, and the best technology ever invented for learning. The cat is out of the bag. If teachers are asking for take-home essay assignments in 2026 then students are going to use AI and learn nothing. "AI detectors" are nowhere near reliable enough to be fair;…

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Re: Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school

#312

Post by tacomagick » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 1:58 AM UTC

dools wrote: post #267

nunez wrote: post #155

Spend a few minutes on the teacher subreddits: /r/teachers and /r/professors, specifically. AI has been a disaster for student outcomes and educator performance, more or less across the board. It should be banned in education, but there's no way to enforce that without increasing educator workload substantially (eliminating homework and re-working lesson plans around that; moving tests and projects back into the clas…

Computers generally are stupid for schools. There should be a computer room and computer classes, but all other learning should happen offline. Computers are far too distracting.

Half of my classmates in university failed Compsci, they could not use a computer but they somehow could install Instagram, do basic video edits there and doomscroll. It is NOT conputers! Phones should be the main target.

Re: Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school

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Post by raincole » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 2:00 AM UTC

sillysaurusx wrote: post #305

chalupa-supreme wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need to remember there are going to be human admin tasks that still need human interaction and critical thought into what you read and write. Adult users of these tools already accept AI outputs without too much thought in varying scenarios. As a child, your willingness to question a tool that’s already better then you at most tasks probably isn’t going too high, and if you go through early education without exerc…

Good. My 4th grade cursive writing was a waste of time. Studying anything else would have been more beneficial.

I think what they meant was "no matter how common something used to be, once we stopped teaching it in school it got lost quickly. Example: cursive."

Not "we should keep teaching cursive indefinitely."

Re: Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school

#314

Post by vovavili » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 2:02 AM UTC

runarberg wrote: post #308

tacomagick wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never claimed it to be good enough to replace a qualified educator, however for self learning it is a good tool with no hustle. You also consider how qualified some educators are...

Better then what for self-learning though? Better then textbooks? Better then an online course? Better then watching youtube videos from Khan academy, or just better then nothing at all as described some metrics which the AI companies came up with them selves? I suspect it is the last one. This is a trillion dollar industry and if the AI companies claim this, then they should be able to to show it with quality resear…

>Better then textbooks? Better then an online course? Better then watching youtube videos from Khan academy, or just better then nothing at all as described some metrics which the AI companies came up with them selves?

The value of all of these self-learning routes has increased enormously due to existence of AI assistants. At least the way I do it now, I get the initial structure for a subject from YouTube/Udemy/textbooks and then fill out my personal comprehension gaps with the help of AI. You can even point AI to a specific material you're trying to grasp and usually it will rephrase a point you failed to get in a simpler language.

Previously, you'd need some trained person to explain to you something that led you to hit a roadblock. Now, the level of understanding you get easily beats most of the tutors in public schools or community colleges.

Re: Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school

#315

Post by hparadiz » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 2:05 AM UTC

beepbooptheory wrote: post #307

hparadiz wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My teachers were frequently wrong too and spoke with authority on subjects in hindsight they were frankly ill equipped to teach. Part of learning is understanding how to reason through these types of issues. It's a common problem solving problem in the work place just the same.

Yeah but the teacher says you're wrong even if you're right. The AI tells you you're right either way. The former can facilitate an important lesson, the latter doesn't ever give you the chance to.

I've been doing things like accounting where I upload receipts and have the LLM adjust a Google sheet with the money balances. The error rate over the past year has dropped from occasionally to never. That is because there's sub agents now running that check the work. If you have multiple LLMs running with a 94% success rate but you throw them into a group that requires a consensus suddenly the number basically hits 99%.

Re: Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school

#316

Post by tacomagick » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 2:05 AM UTC

runarberg wrote: post #308

tacomagick wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never claimed it to be good enough to replace a qualified educator, however for self learning it is a good tool with no hustle. You also consider how qualified some educators are...

Better then what for self-learning though? Better then textbooks? Better then an online course? Better then watching youtube videos from Khan academy, or just better then nothing at all as described some metrics which the AI companies came up with them selves? I suspect it is the last one. This is a trillion dollar industry and if the AI companies claim this, then they should be able to to show it with quality resear…

I agree with the last part, however I disagree with the others. To learn something you can't just watch or just read, I personally try to do both, first watch to get a basic grasp, then read to get some of the finer details. It stimulates a bigger area of my brain and lets me remember it faster. AI comes in as a helper to this cycle, creating me a study plan letting me know what to focus on, finding me videos on the topic and sorting them on their success rates based on their comments and finding sources. It lets me ask it questions about parts i find difficult or don't comprehend fully. To go beyond it can create an hour long audio discussion about the topic, create flash cards for me to import to Anki, it can create video summaries for me, it can transcribe the videos and let me know which time mark is a topic i want to focus on is at. These are not lies these are self experience. I am a student too, you know.

Re: Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school

#317

Post by dyauspitr » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 2:05 AM UTC

I love how data driven and fast acting these European countries are. It takes forever for anything to happen in the US even with 80% support.

Re: Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school

#318

Post by runarberg » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 2:06 AM UTC

vovavili wrote: post #314

runarberg wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better then what for self-learning though? Better then textbooks? Better then an online course? Better then watching youtube videos from Khan academy, or just better then nothing at all as described some metrics which the AI companies came up with them selves? I suspect it is the last one. This is a trillion dollar industry and if the AI companies claim this, then they should be able to to show it with quality resear…

>Better then textbooks? Better then an online course? Better then watching youtube videos from Khan academy, or just better then nothing at all as described some metrics which the AI companies came up with them selves? The value of all of these self-learning routes has increased enormously due to existence of AI assistants. At least the way I do it now, I get the initial structure for a subject from YouTube/Udemy/tex…

> The value of all of these self-learning routes has increased enormously due to existence of AI assistants.

This is a lie and most of us know it. AI companies have been lying and lying and lying and lying. If you believe this then the AI companies have successfully lied to you and are making you pay money for an inferior product. If this weren’t a lie then the AI companies should have the research to prove it, they have not, because it is not true. AI does not help anybody learn anything better then using traditional methods.

Re: Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school

#319

Post by kevin_thibedeau » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 2:08 AM UTC

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #288

JimsonYang wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Facing a broad decline in education test scores, the government in 2024 banned smartphones from schools and has given teachers back more powers to enforce discipline in the classroom. I remember seeing an nyt article where there was mixed results on cell phone bans. While they increased socialization among students, the school didnt see better test scores. We'll have to see if a ban on AI can improve test scores-I…

Here in Ontario they "banned" phones in class/school and the teens just ignore it and the teachers are unable/scared to enforce it. As parents we've tried over and over with both our kids to lay down the law -- including taking phones away, consequences etc -- but the attitude is intense with both them and their peers and enforcement becomes very difficult once they're out of "child account" parental control range. I…

Canadian schools operate under the principle of in loco parentis. Your administrators are just unwilling to do their jobs. If they laid down strict policies of zero tolerance and consequences for offenders that inconvenience the parents there would be compliance. Any parent not on board with such policies can send their kids elsewhere.

Re: Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school

#320

Post by cmrdporcupine » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 2:08 AM UTC

tacomagick wrote: post #297

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's precisely what needs to happen. That said, my youngest just reads gaming wikis and hangs out on Discords for roguelike video games and this somehow consumes 900% of their attention span.

I'd say that's one of the best ways to spend time. It's okay to have a hobby even if it's just rougelike games. Much better than doomscrolling on Tiktok in every way.

Not when it takes precedence over... doing your math homework, touching grass, communicating with a real flesh and blood friend (or parent/sibling), showering...