Norway to Ban Generative AI for Schoolchildren Aged 6 to 13

The Norwegian government will ban the use of generative AI by schoolchildren aged 6 to 13, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said.

According to him, this is part of a broader policy aimed at protecting basic learning skills amid declining school test results.

“The most important thing in school is that our children learn to read, write and count,” the prime minister said. The new rules will take effect with the start of the school year in late August.

This is already the third technology restriction in Norwegian schools in the past two years. In 2024, the authorities banned the use of smartphones in schools and restored teachers’ disciplinary powers. Earlier this year, the government also announced preparations for a law that will ban children from using social media before the age of 16.

Norway, meanwhile, was among the first countries to actively introduce computers into school education as early as the 1990s, and tablets after 2010.

The new rules provide for different levels of access to AI depending on age. Pupils aged 14 to 16 will be able to use such tools cautiously under teachers’ supervision. Upper-secondary students aged 17 to 19, by contrast, will be taught how to use AI properly in order to prepare them for further education and work.

At the same time, the government intends to propose a bill to finance broader use of paper textbooks in classrooms, effectively reversing its previous course toward tablets.