Google Search for students will soon come with AI or not at all

Google is changing how students get to its AI tools. In a blog post on November 3, Chris Phillips, who runs Google's education business, said Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search will be switched off for student accounts by default. "Access to these products will be entirely off for K-12 student accounts until school administrators explicitly turn them on," he wrote. Schools can enable each service separately.

Why Search is on the list

Including Google Search has caused an uproar in the US. According to the Associated Press, Google says Search is now integrated with AI. The company told The New York Times that schools that have banned AI "will not have access to search," CBS News reports. Students will see a message saying the service is not available. Google's announcement does not mention a version of Search without AI for student accounts.

Critics responded quickly. Former FTC chair Lina Khan accused Google of using its search dominance to pressure schools into adopting AI. Josh Golin, executive director of the children's advocacy group Fairplay, said Google's effort to "strong-arm schools into using its AI products is likely to backfire." He urged schools to turn the tools off and look at other search engines. SiliconANGLE notes that Google has not directly addressed the criticism that students would lose Search.

A reversal of the August default

For many families, the change still means more caution. Until August, Gemini was limited to students 18 and older, the AP reports, and since then it had been on by default for many younger students. Google is now switching the default back to off. It has not given a date. Google says it will share details with schools "in the coming months," and The New York Times expects the change early next year, according to PPC Land.

One feature is available right away. Guided Learning now works worldwide in Google Classroom, and Google says it "coaches students through the process of problem solving" with open-ended questions instead of handing over answers. A pilot in Google Search starts later in November at select US schools.

What parents can ask

Google's post does not say which countries the new default covers. It only applies to accounts that a school manages through Google Workspace for Education. Parents can ask the school which Google services are enabled for their child's account and whether Gemini is one of them. A recent test of ChatGPT for Teens showed how unevenly such safeguards work in practice. OpenAI takes a different approach and treats users as teens when its AI thinks they are under 18.