Norway is imposing a near ban on the ⁠use of generative ⁠AI tools by elementary ⁠school pupils while also restricting their use in the education of older children to prevent a negative impact on learning, the country’s prime minister has said.

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.

Using artificial intelligence increased the risk that young children skip important steps in their education, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told a press conference on Friday.

“The most important thing in ⁠school is that our children learn to read, write and do mathematics,” Stoere ‌said, adding that the new standards would be imposed from the new school year beginning in late August.

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, could cautiously adopt tools under teachers’ ‌supervision, the government said.