Google: Schools That Ban AI Will Lose Search for Students

Google has updated its AI controls for K-12 student accounts, announcing the changes in an education-focused blog post published Tuesday. According to Chris Phillips, the company's vice president for education, Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search will be fully switched off on student accounts unless school administrators explicitly enable them. The new controls are expected to roll out over the coming months.

The most contentious part is the inclusion of Search. Phillips said Search and AI are deeply integrated, so students at a school that bans AI tools will not be able to reach Search. Instead, they will see a message from their school saying the service is unavailable.

Controls can be set product by product

Google says administrators will be able to enable these products individually, so the approach is not strictly all or nothing. The company stresses that educators should have a say over how AI is used in schools, and says it made the update after talks with schools, teachers, researchers and policymakers.

The update also reverses a change Google made this summer. In August the company turned on some AI features in the Classroom learning platform by default. The decision drew a negative reaction from educators, and Google subsequently changed course.

What it could mean for schools

Chromebooks and Google's education apps are widely used in schools, particularly in the United States. School districts that do not accept the new rules may therefore need to look at alternative search engines, and possibly even other devices and digital learning platforms, down the line.

Some jurisdictions are already restricting access to generative AI. New York City in September introduced a one-year moratorium on the use of such tools for students up to eighth grade, and Los Angeles public schools imposed a similar ban the same month. Last week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law prohibiting AI companies from offering certain chatbot features to minors.

Guided Learning and step-by-step help in Search

For schools and districts that do allow AI, Google offers a tool called Guided Learning. Available globally in Classroom starting today, it was previously available in the Gemini app. Rather than giving the answer to a question or activity set by a teacher, it breaks the problem into step-by-step explanations and offers interactive features such as quizzes. Google compares it to one-on-one tutoring.

As a measure aimed at limiting cheating, the company is also adding Guided Learning tools to Search on student accounts. When the systems detect that a student is looking for certain kinds of homework help, Search will walk through the topic or problem step by step. If a student pastes in a complex physics problem or asks for help writing a book report, for example, they will see prompts that encourage them to think critically about the concepts rather than jumping straight to the answer.

This approach will be tested in select US schools starting this month before a broader rollout. In the school version of Guided Learning, teachers will also be able to access transcripts of student chatbot interactions.