The New York Times reports:

Google announced Tuesday that early next year it would turn off artificial intelligence tools in its popular software for K-12 students, unless school administrators explicitly choose to make such tools available.

Executives at the tech giant said they wanted to be responsive to educators and parents who have asked for more control in how children interact with A.I.

But there is a catch: Schools that choose to restrict A.I. entirely will also lose access to Google search.

A.I. features are now a standard part of Google’s commercially available search engine. “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.”

Google is by far the dominant technology player in K-12 classrooms. Google’s suite of education apps — including Gmail, Docs and an assignment platform called Classroom — is ubiquitous. Google Chromebooks, low-cost laptops, are the most widely issued student devices in U.S. schools. And Google is synonymous with internet search, a crucial tool for students across the globe.

The company’s new strategy underscores Google’s powerful role in American education. If school leaders want continued student access to search within the company’s ecosystem, they will be forced to embrace Google’s A.I.

Lina Khan, a former chair of the Federal Trade Commission, said in a statement that Google was using its “search monopoly to coerce schools” into adopting its A.I. She added that multiple courts had found the tech giant liable for violating antitrust laws.

“This latest move shows it remains unchastened,” Ms. Khan said of Google’s new A.I. changes for schools. “As the public increasingly pushes back against the use of AI in schools,” she added, “Google is making clear it will punish those who don’t fall in line.” [Continue reading…]