If schools don’t want Google’s AI previews to appear when students use its flagship search tool, the company said, they will lose access to Google Search altogether.
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Don Ryan/AP/AP
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Google is an important part of the school day for millions of students. It’s not just a search engine. It is a platform for sharing documents and submitting homework.
An announcement this month is clear: Google wants AI to be part of this educational ecosystem.
Many parents don’t do this.
“Parents are angry,” said Jodi Carreon, a Southern California mom. “They are very angry.”
When Carreon, who also runs the advocacy group Schools Beyond Screens, first read that Google was letting schools turn off AI features for students, she was excited. Her group is part of the parent-led movement demanding limits on technology in the classroom.
But even though districts like Los Angeles Unified, Seattle Public Schools, and New York City Public Schools have recently agreed to ban AI in the classroom, Google has not. If schools don’t want AI previews to appear when students use its flagship search tool, the company said, they will lose access to Google Search altogether. Even advocates of less technology in schools know that losing the ability to Google something will be a problem for teachers.
In an article on
A confusing gesture
Tracy Pizzo worked at Google for over a decade before leaving the company in 2022. Much of her time at the company was dedicated to AI education and ethical standards. Google’s decision this month baffled him, especially at a time when young people’s use of AI is under such scrutiny.
She has a theory about why the tech giant is taking this stance: It might have to do with two recent court cases that Google fought off in Washington.
Google was sued by large online publishers who said adding AI preview to search negatively impacted their business. The publishers sued under antitrust laws and their argument was to convince the court that AI Overviews was a separate product from Google Search.
“The judge ruled that search and AI constitute an integrated product,” Pizzo said, before dismissing the lawsuits. “Now if Google were to provide an off switch just for schools…that would prove that they can be separated. And it would undermine the victory they just won in court.”
When asked for comment, Google referred NPR to its initial announcement, in which the company said: “Our goal is simple: to provide school leaders with the control and confidence to use AI products in classrooms as they see fit.” » The company did not respond to additional questions from NPR about a link between its announcement and recent antitrust cases.
NPR asked antitrust experts about this theory. They weren’t entirely convinced, but didn’t completely rule it out either.
The “AI or nothing” approach
Either way, Google’s AI previews don’t get high marks from some watchdogs.
Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that evaluates how teens interact with technology, recently gave the product an “unacceptable risk” rating. Among other things, Common Sense criticized the tool for dangerous content and citing false information.
The day after the announcement, Google was criticized for another AI product in schools. Parents in North Carolina sued the company after Google’s chatbot, Gemini, helped their 13-year-old daughter plan her suicide and funeral on her school-issued Chromebook.
Even some longtime Google partners are surprised by the company’s current position, including Illinois Superintendent Hank Thiele.
“It may have done a lot of damage to the trust that Google has built in education,” he said.
Thiele has worked with Google Classroom for nearly two decades and says the company has always been a great partner. His district, made up entirely of high school students, is in the process of introducing AI to its students. As a pioneer in classroom technology, he wants to be on top with AI.
He said he thought the company would listen to people’s feedback, but missed the message.
“Google should have clearly said, ‘Our bad,'” Thiele said. “That would have been the appropriate response to a school.”
The “AI or nothing” approach, as Thiele put it, has not worked well.
Edited by Nirvi Shah And Nicole Cohen
Google financially supports NPR.
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