Google announced Tuesday that it plans to disable its AI tools for K-12 students next year unless school administrators explicitly enable them. The tech giant said the changes were made in consultation with schools, teachers, leading researchers and policy makers. As a result, Google is revising its approach across Gemini, NotebookLM, Gemini in Classroom, and Google Search overall.
This decision means that schools that choose to restrict AI completely will no longer have access to Google Search, as AI capabilities have been integrated into the search engine.
Chris Phillips, Google’s vice president of education, told the New York Times that “search and AI are deeply integrated,” meaning that if a school chooses to completely restrict AI, students “will no longer have access to search and will see a message from their school stating that search is unavailable.”
This change creates problems for schools. Teachers may not want their students to use Google Search’s AI overview to conduct research or complete assignments, but they may want to give their students access to the search engine to find sources and other learning materials.
But Google Search and its AI capabilities are now inseparable. The decision underscores the company’s influence in education, given the dominance of Google’s suite of apps in the classroom and the proliferation of Chromebooks. Schools that want to continue accessing Google Search will need to embrace its AI capabilities.
“Prior to rolling out the changes, we will be sharing more details with schools in the coming months to give schools time to prepare and enable a smooth transition,” Phillips said in a blog post. “Our goal is simple: to give school leaders the control and confidence to successfully use AI products in the classroom.”
Google announced upcoming changes to coincide with the launch of guided learning in schools. The tool, which was announced earlier this year, functions like an AI tutor, as it is designed to help users gain deeper understanding rather than just getting answers. The launch comes amid concerns that AI chatbots undermine the learning process by spitting out direct answers.
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