Protesters urge Google to let schools say no to AI without losing Google Search
Parents, teachers and children rallied outside Google offices in several US cities against a policy that cuts off Google Search for schools that turn down Gemini.
Dozens of people protested on Wednesday outside Google's office in Cambridge against the company's plan to cut off access to Google Search for schools that refuse its artificial intelligence features. The rally was part of a series of organized demonstrations that also reached Google offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
According to reporting by The Boston Globe, published on November 12, Google said the week before that it would stop automatically turning on Gemini in schools that use Google Classroom. The new policy came with a catch: schools that reject Google's AI offerings lose access to the company's search engine.
Google argues that search and AI are now so tightly integrated that it isn't possible to have one without the other. In August, the company had switched on the Gemini app as the default option for every school using Classroom.
Pressure from unions and the Senate
The Cambridge protest brought together the leaders of the Massachusetts Teachers Association and AFT Massachusetts, the state's two major teachers unions, along with groups such as the Massachusetts AI Action Network, Sociedad Latina and the Becca Schmill Foundation.
On Monday, Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts called on Google to reverse the policy. “This is not a choice,” Markey wrote in a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai. “It is an ultimatum to effectively force schools to turn on generative AI.”
For some families, the rule was a breaking point, said Tom Rogan, a parent in Sudbury. “We've had problems with Big Tech in schools for a long time, and luckily that's now becoming clearer to parents,” he said. “We need more control to protect our kids.” Matt Bach, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, struck a similar note: “We really don't need Google in our classrooms.”
What Google says
“We've heard the concerns from parents and teachers about students using AI to skip steps in their learning, and we share the same goal: helping students learn,” said Google spokesperson Jackie Berté. “The Gemini app, Gemini Notebook and Search will be turned off by default until schools decide which services to turn on.”
The company also says it is building new restrictions into the school version of Gemini, including a feature that lets teachers review students' conversations with the chatbot. But it has not backed down on tying Search to AI.
For anyone responsible for a brand, the key takeaway is in Google's own justification: the company treats search and AI as a single product, to the point of saying it can't offer one without the other. This is the platform itself stating that Google Search and its AI features can no longer be pulled apart.
Key questions
What did Google change for schools?
Google stopped automatically turning on Gemini for schools that use Google Classroom, but schools that refuse its AI features lose access to Google Search.
Why won't Google separate Search from AI?
The company says search and AI are now so tightly integrated that it isn't possible to have one without the other.
Who took part in the protests?
Parents, children and teachers, joined by the leaders of the Massachusetts Teachers Association and AFT Massachusetts and groups such as the Massachusetts AI Action Network, Sociedad Latina and the Becca Schmill Foundation.
Source: The Boston Globe.