Jane Hatterer opposes moratorium, citing AI ubiquity in teen lives
Hatterer, an education technology policy consultant, opposes the two-year moratorium, citing Pew Research data that 51% of adults use AI chatbots and 95% of teens have heard of AI. She argues avoidance will diminish student agency and leave them less prepared, and references a Brookings Institute three-pillar strategy of Prosper, Prepare, and Protect rather than a pause.
You may begin.
Hi, thank you.
My name is Jane Hatterer.
I'm an AI policy, AI literacy and civic education policy and advocacy consultant.
I've worked in the intersection of education and technology for 25 years.
both at Columbia University and also working with secondary education.
I'm writing to express my strong opposition to the proposed two-year moratorium on generative AI in our schools.
We are in a paddle boat facing a tsunami, and avoidance cannot be the strategy.
A two-year pause will not eliminate the technology, but only diminish our students'agency in a world already awash with AI, leaving them less prepared for college, the workforce, and civic life.
The proposed pause ignores the reality that AI is ubiquitous in our social, economic, and political landscape.
According to Pew Research, Americans in AI 2026, approximately half of all U.S.
Adults, 51%, now use AI chatbots, as well as 21% of U.S.
Workforce report using AI in their jobs, up from 18% just a year ago.
38% utilize them specifically for work tasks.
In a Pew report, How Teens Use and View AI, 95% of teens have heard of AI and their use is diverse and deeply integrated into their lives.
Over half of U.S.
Teens report using chatbots to help with schoolwork.
10% of teens already turn to AI for emotional support or advice, and that number is doubling.
To 20% black teens.
According to 2026 Common Sense Media, a comprehensive report on teens, tweens, and AI, while 75% of students report that
Their schools have discussed rules for what they cannot do with AI.
Only just over 50% have been taught how to use it safely.
Furthermore, nearly half of students have never had a conversation with their parents about AI safety.
Leaving students to navigate their high-stakes interactions alone is irresponsible.
Black and Hispanic...
Time expired.
It's time already?
Oh, I'm so sorry.
I would like to just say one thing for the council.
The Brookings Institute report, the basis of which was used for a pause, in fact does not call for a pause or a freeze.
It has a three-pillar strategy called Prosper, Prepare, and Protect.
If I can just articulate.
No, I appreciate it.
I think additional testimony you could submit in writing.
And we will, as we always do, review the written testimony.
I thank you so much for your testimony for this very important hearing.
Thank you so much.
I will now call on Zoom David Monahan.