Google says school administrators can enable Search, Gemini and Gemini Notebook separately, with all three off by default. But schools cannot choose a version of Search without its AI features. That distinction has prompted criticism from educators and politicians as the company prepares learning tools intended to guide students through problems rather than simply supply answers.
Google says schools can enable Search, Gemini and Gemini Notebook independently for student accounts. All three services are to be switched off by default, leaving administrators to decide which to make available. But enabling Search still includes its artificial intelligence features: schools are not being offered a version without AI summaries. That leaves districts restricting student AI use with a choice about access to the search service itself.[1], [2]
Educators are concerned that generated overviews can discourage students from researching answers themselves. Google’s education vice president Chris Phillips says Search and AI are deeply integrated. Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Richard Blumenthal and former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan criticised the policy and Google’s influence over school technology. Their objections focus on the difficulty of restricting AI while retaining access to a widely used information-finding tool.[1]
Google says it changed the controls after educators asked for more choice. It is developing Guided Learning for Search on student accounts, intended to help students work through a problem instead of handing them a finished answer. In a mathematics example, the tool prompts a student to recall the relevant rule. Google argues that the new service settings give schools more control, while the AI components within Search remain integrated.[1]
