Google seems to have shoved as many AI features into as many of its products as it can over the last few years in an attempt to justify the tens of billions of dollars it has plowed into the technology. It appears to be making another attempt to bump up its AI user numbers by issuing an ultimatum to schools: enable AI features or students won't be able to use Search.
In one of several blog posts Google published Tuesday about its education efforts, it said it believes educators should have control over the use of AI in schools. "After listening to schools, teachers, leading researchers and policymakers, we are now updating our approach to controls for Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search," Chris Phillips, Google's vice president and general manager for education, wrote. "Access to these products will be entirely off for K-12 student accounts until school administrators explicitly turn them on." Google clarified to Engadget that administrators will be able to enable these products individually, and that it's not an all-or-nothing deal.
The company plans to roll out these updated controls in the coming months as it walks back a change it made this summer. In August, Google enabled certain AI features by default in the Classroom learning platform. That shift prompted a backlash from educators, as The New York Times reported, leading Google to reverse course.
However, Phillips told the publication that "Search and AI are deeply integrated." If a school bans AI tools, students "will not have access to Search, and they'll see a message from their school that indicates it's not available."
Chromebooks and Google's education apps are widely used in schools, particularly in the US. If school districts don't play by Google's new rules, they may have to consider alternative search engines (and perhaps other devices and digital learning platforms) going forward.
Several jurisdictions have limited access to generative AI in schools. In September, New York City placed a one-year moratorium on the use of such tools in public schools for students through eighth grade. The Los Angeles public school system enacted a similar ban that same month. Last week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law that bans AI companies from offering certain chatbot features to minors.
In school districts and jurisdictions that do allow the use of AI, Google offers a tool called Guided Learning, which is available globally in Classroom starting today. Rather than giving students the answer to a question or activity assigned by their teacher, Guided Learning (which was already available in the Gemini app) breaks problems down into step-by-step explanations and offers interactive features like quizzes. Google suggested it's akin to one-on-one tutoring.
The company said it's adding Guided Learning tools to Search in student accounts as well, ostensibly as a measure to limit cheating. "When our systems understand a student is looking for certain types of homework help, Search will walk them through the topic or problem step by step," Phillips wrote. "For example, if a student pastes a complex physics problem or asks for help writing a book report in Search, they'll see prompts to help them think critically and work through the concepts, without going directly to the answer."
The company will test this approach in select schools in the US starting this month before a broader expansion. In the school version of Guided Learning, teachers will be able to access transcripts of chatbot interactions on student accounts.
