Technology’s Effect on Advocacy
algorithmic harms arising in educational settings. That gap presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Existing California law already provide many of the tools necessary to address these harms. The next question is how litigants can use those tools effectively before developmental injuries become permanent.
Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) Reports:
85% of students & 86% of teachers use ChatGPT, generative AI tools
Conclusion
Half of students agree that using AI in class makes them feel less connected to their teacher
AI is transforming California classrooms at a pace that neither legislation nor litigation has fully matched. Every day, children interact with technologies capable of shaping not only how they learn, but also how they think, reason, and develop. The challenge these systems present is therefore not limited to privacy, data governance, or educational policy. It concerns the protection of childhood itself. California law is not silent. The legislature has enacted significant safeguards governing educational technologies, student privacy, and artificial intelligence. The challenge for practitioners is therefore not simply identifying a legal violation but selecting the appropriate legal theory. Depending on the circumstances, AI-related claims may proceed through negligence, product liability, statutory privacy protections, contractual obligations, or requests for injunctive relief. The absence of an AI-specific cause of action does not leave plaintiffs without recourse; it requires careful use of the remedies California law already provides. Ultimately, the greatest barrier to justice may not be technological innovation itself, but our willingness to adapt existing legal principles to a new generation of developmental injuries California’s longstanding
Seven of ten teachers worry that AI weakens important skills that students need to learn
Over two-thirds of parents and students agree parents have no idea how students interact with AI
Report dated October 8, 2025 See more here: CDT.org
commitment to protecting children's health, safety, and development provimportant foundation for that effort, even if those principles do not themselves create independent causes of action. Much work remains to be done. The law will continue to evolve, and it should. But children cannot wait for perfect legislation. As litigators, we should be prepared to use the tools California law already provides to protect them today.
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Consumer Attorneys of California
FORUM September/October 2026
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