Two comprehensive artificial intelligence laws are taking effect on January 1, 2026, prohibiting AI-only instruction at community colleges while mandating statewide guidance for K-12 schools on the responsible use of rapidly advancing technology.

Public Act 104-0201, signed August 15, amends the Public Community College Act to explicitly prohibit colleges from using artificial intelligence programs as the sole source of instruction for courses. The law mandates that all courses be taught by qualified faculty members who meet established Illinois Community College Board standards. However, the law includes a critical provision clarifying that faculty members may still use AI tools to “augment course instruction,” allowing instructors to incorporate AI technologies as teaching aids while maintaining human oversight.

While the community college law establishes clear prohibitions, lawmakers took a different approach for elementary and secondary education.

The legislation requires ISBE to provide detailed guidance covering nine distinct areas:​​

Technical Education: Explanations of basic AI concepts including machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision.​​

Classroom Applications: Specific ways AI can be used at the district, school, and classroom levels “to inform teaching and learning practices while preserving the human relationships essential to effective teaching and learning”.​​

Bias and Risk Management: How districts and educators can evaluate and address bias, privacy, transparency, and risk assessment in AI usage.​​

Student Data Privacy: The impact of AI on student data privacy, including federal and state statutes such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Children’s Internet Protection Act, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, the Illinois School Student Records Act, and the Student Online Personal Protection Act.​​

AI Literacy Development: Best practices for developing student literacy in AI and engaging students in age-appropriate discussions on responsible and ethical AI use.​​

Accessibility: Best practices for making age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate AI applications available and accessible to all students.​​

Special Populations Support: Best practices and effective strategies for supporting special populations, including English learners and students with disabilities.​​

Bias Awareness: The impacts that AI use may have in educational settings, such as “unintentional and disparate biases against special populations inherent within artificial intelligence products”.​​

Implementation Resources: Resources and support available for districts, including the State Board of Education’s Learning Technology Center, for implementing AI in educational settings.

The law also authorizes the State Superintendent of Education to convene a statewide council to consult on further development of guidance, resources, and support for schools. The council must include individuals with expertise in AI and at least two currently practicing classroom teachers, and must represent the ethnic, racial, and geographic diversity of Illinois.

Senate Bill 1920 also amends Illinois’ existing Internet safety education curriculum to explicitly address AI-generated threats to students. The law adds that schools’ Internet safety instruction should include recognizing and reporting online harassment and cyber-bullying, including the creation and distribution of false representations of individuals created by artificial intelligence, including, but not limited to, sexually explicit images and videos.

According to the Gallup–Walton Family Foundation survey, only about one-third of teachers are regular AI users, with 32% saying they use AI tools at least weekly, 28% using them infrequently, and 40% not using AI at all. Overall favorability toward AI in K–12 schools is also mixed: 40% of teachers favor its use, 28% oppose it, and 30% are neutral. The survey further notes that AI adoption is higher in schools with formal AI policies, where 70% of teachers have used AI in the past year compared with 60% in schools without such policies.