Google adjusts AI settings for school accounts: disabling AI features will also disable Search
Google has introduced new AI settings for schools: Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Google Search are off by default for K-12 student accounts and must be explicitly enabled by school administrators. Google says Search and AI are now deeply integrated, so in schools that disable AI features, students will be unable to use Search; in early 2027, two options will be offered—one enabling AI features such as AI Overviews, and the other replacing them with Guided Learning—leaving schools with only a choice between accepting AI features and giving up Search.
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Google has turned off AI features by default for school accounts, but disabling them also disables Search, leaving schools to choose between accepting AI and keeping Search.
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Google is today launching new AI settings for schools, but with the big catch that Search is fully disabled if AI features are turned off entirely.
In a blog post today, Google says it is “focused on building technology responsibly to help students thrive” and, as such, will tailor its AI efforts to help students. “Guided Learning” in Gemini, Search, and Classroom will include helping students “work through problems without skipping straight to answers.”
Google explains an example in Search:
…if a student pastes a complex physics problem or asks for help writing a book report in Search, they’ll see prompts to help them think critically and work through the concepts, without going directly to the answer.
Beyond this new Guided Learning push, Google also says that it will now turn off “Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Google Search” for K-12 student accounts by default “until school administrators explicitly turn them on.”
As The New York Times points out, having those features fully off has a big side effect: it cuts students off from Google Search entirely.
Google says that this is because Search and AI “are deeply integrated” and confirms that students in schools with AI features turned off (which, to reiterate, is now the default setting) “will not have access to search.”
As a reminder, Google Search’s AI features can largely be turned off using a simple modifier.
You can turn off AI in Google Search results with this easy modifier
Google’s post says that the “goal is simple: provide school leaders the control and confidence to use AI products in classrooms as they see fit.” Yet, speaking to The New York Times, Google further explained that two options will be available to schools in “early 2027,” one that has AI Overviews and other AI features turned on, the other with Guided Learning in their place, leaving schools with no choice other than to accept AI features or give up access to Google Search for their students entirely.
NYT points out repeatedly that Google’s prior AI pushes in schools have been met with fierce opposition from educators and parents alike.
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