The teachers' union APESS is calling for an AI moratorium for lower secondary school classes, as well as a radical change in the curriculum. The Luxembourg education system currently prepares students for a "cognitively routine middle class", which is likely to be eradicated by AI and robotics.
APESS said the Ministry of Education's policies on smartphone usage and AI did not fit together harmoniously. The first, dated September 2024, supports a screen-life balance and a smartphone ban, while the Ministry's AI compass, proposed in October 2025, is said to be "actively fostering the very cognitive atrophy within the classroom" that the Ministry wants to avoid.
The union says "Analog first, digital last". While AI might result in better productivity among experts, it was not designed for immature pupils, who would do better to think first, and understand AI later. APESS is therefore calling for a moratorium on AI in secondary school classes up until the age of 16.
"Children from privileged backgrounds have access to paper books, a rich linguistic environment, and human interaction at home", the union wrote. "For children from families with limited educational resources, public school is the only place where this cognitive capital can be built."
AI should be suspended in classes and for homework, and there should be legal protection for any teachers refusing to use artificial intelligence and platform coercion in their classrooms.
