Google works hard to sell to schools. The schools love what Google offers. But not when Google gets pushy. Google wants the kids to use as much Gemini as they can force down their gullets. In August, Google turned on Gemini by default in Google Classroom. [NYT, archive] Schools were displeased. In…
Annons
Annons
Google works hard to sell to schools. The schools love what Google offers. But not when Google gets pushy. Google wants the kids to use as much Gemini as they can force down their gullets. In August, Google turned on Gemini by default in Google Classroom. [NYT, archive] Schools were displeased. In September, New York City banned AI in elementary and middle schools. [NYT, archive] So Google says it’s giving schools more fine-grained control over how much AI is forced on the kids! Except search. Schools can have either search with AI or they can have Guided Learning, a school version of Gemini. If a school switches off AI, they get no search at all: [NYT, archive] “Search and A.I. are deeply integrated,” said Chris Phillips, vice president for education at Google. If a school has banned A.I., he added, students “will not have access to search, and they’ll see a message from their school that indicates it’s not available.” “Deeply integrated” is untrue. Google could sell you the good old top 10 links API. They still use it internally. This is obvious market abuse. But Google’s had multiple findings of monopoly with zero consequences. Chris Phillips from Google says in a blog post today: [Google] We believe schools should have control over AI in their classrooms. Except when they say no. Google marketing by spite is not going down well with the customers. Teachers and school admins are already getting peeved. We should expect more backlash over the coming weeks. Video — Podcast