The Zhitong Finance App learned that Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet (GOOGL.US, GOOG.US), announced on Tuesday that schools hoping K-12 (elementary and middle school) students use Google Search (Google Search) will need to start the service themselves, and the AI function built into the search will also be enabled. Meanwhile, Google's Gemini chatbot, Gemini Notebook, and Gemini in Google Classroom will close K-12 student accounts by default until school administrators actively open them.
Chris Phillips (Chris Phillips), Google's vice president and general manager of education, said in a blog post that the above products are all closed by default for K-12 student accounts, and students can only use them after the school administrator opens them. Among them, Google Search will include AI features. Google said it will share more specific details with schools “in the coming months” before launch, adding that the decision was made after communicating with schools, teachers, researchers and policy makers.
At the time of this adjustment, Google is facing growing resistance from parents and school districts against AI entering schools. Google's Chromebook is the most widely used laptop in American classrooms, but the company is also facing increasing resistance to AI entering schools. In August, for schools that already allow students to use Gemini, Google enabled chatbots for students by default in Google Classroom. This move attracted criticism from school leaders.
At the beginning of September, the two largest public school systems in the US tightened the use of AI. New York City prohibits students in grade 8 and below from using generative AI this school year; the Los Angeles Unified School District prohibits students from using generative AI on devices distributed by the district, covering independent tools and AI features built into the Google Workspace app.
Under Google's new control measures, these school districts will have to choose between two: either let students use Google search with built-in AI features, or completely ban students from using Google search.
Google also said that Guided Learning, the learning model initially introduced in the Gemini app, will be extended to search. When the Google system detects that students are seeking help with certain types of assignments, the search function will guide students step by step to resolve the issue. For example, when students paste in a physics question or request help completing a book report, they'll get tips designed to guide them through the concept rather than jumping directly to the answer.
Google will pilot “guided learning” (Guided Learning) in Google Search in some schools in the US later this month, and plans to expand to other school districts after collecting feedback from teachers. Google said its research showed that the feature brought “measurable learning benefits,” but the blog post did not cite independent evaluation reports.
Guided Learning has been available in Google Classroom worldwide since Tuesday. Teachers can arrange activities related to classroom materials and see in real time where students may need extra help. Google said the Classroom version was tested with schools and teachers before it was released.