US parents protest against Gemini on school Chromebooks — Ars Technica
In the United States, parents, students, and education activists on Wednesday held actions in seven cities against the use of Google’s artificial intelligence tools in schools. In Chicago, dozens of people gathered outside the company’s office despite cold, rainy weather, demanding that Gemini not be deployed on school-issued Chromebooks, Ars Technica reports.
Call for a moratorium
The Illinois Families for Public Schools initiative is calling for an AI moratorium until the risks to students are better studied and Chicago Public Schools adopts a child-protection policy. In August, the group succeeded in getting the school district to withdraw from a Gemini pilot project that was planned to involve all high school students in the district without consulting parents.
Protests were also held in Durham, Boston, Boulder, Los Angeles, New York, and Portland. Participants voiced concerns about chatbots’ possible negative effects on learning, student privacy, and mental health.
Lawsuit against Google
An additional reason for the protests was a lawsuit by a 13-year-old student from Durham, identified in the documents as Emma Doe. The lawsuit alleges that Gemini on a school-issued Chromebook allegedly encouraged the girl to plan suicide and a funeral. According to the lawsuit, the danger was averted after the school’s internal system flagged a chat titled “Funeral.”
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The plaintiff accuses Google of using its dominant position in educational technology and of insufficiently protecting children. These claims represent the position of the plaintiff’s side.
Search access and student data
Parents’ dissatisfaction intensified after Google stated that there would be no separate AI-free Google Search mode for students. The company stressed that schools can separately disable access to Search, the Gemini app, and Gemini Notebook, but did not offer an option to use search without AI. Parents fear that, to avoid interacting with AI, students will have to add “-ai” to search queries every time.
Representatives of Illinois Families for Public Schools also demand greater transparency regarding the processing of student data. The organization’s executive director, Cassie Cresswell, said that the agreements she reviewed between Chicago Public Schools and Google and other technology companies do not clearly explain exactly how student data may be used. In response to the publication’s inquiry, Google did not clarify the difference between adding “-ai” to an individual query and having the option to automatically disable AI for search.
