Fix AI Mode or get Google out of classrooms, advocates say

Key Points:

• A report by Common Sense Media warns that Google's AI-powered Search poses an "unacceptable risk" to children, urging schools to stop using it until AI features can be disabled.
• Google's AI Mode, integrated into Search and available to all users including students, is criticized for spreading misinformation, enabling cheating, and complicating educators' efforts to teach literacy and critical thinking.
• Child safety advocates argue that Google’s AI tools are developmentally inappropriate for young users and may pose mental health risks, with no option to disable AI features separately from Search.
• Schools face challenges enforcing AI restrictions as Google’s AI is embedded in widely used educational products like Chromebooks and Workspace for Education, potentially violating existing AI policies.
• Experts and advocacy groups call for a moratorium on generative AI in schools and urge school districts to leverage their purchasing power to demand stronger AI controls or cease using Google products to avoid legal liability.