TL;DRCommon Sense Media rated Google’s AI Search an “unacceptable risk” for students. AI Mode uses age-gated Gemini models. Google offers no way to disable AI without blocking Search.
Common Sense Media concluded that Google’s AI-powered Search poses an “unacceptable risk” to young users and recommended that students stop using it entirely until schools can disable the AI features. The child safety watchdog found that AI Mode readily completed homework assignments for minors, repeated misinformation with an air of authority, and exposed children to generative AI experiences powered by Gemini models that are age-gated in every other Google product.
The problem is structural. Google launched AI Mode for Search last year and made it available to everyone immediately, including education accounts. There is no toggle to disable AI features while keeping Search accessible. Parents can block Google.com entirely for child accounts. School administrators could do the same for Workspace for Education users. But as Amanda Bickerstaff of AI for Education put it: “What are you going to say? That kids can’t search the web?” Google dominates classroom technology. It helmed a 1:1 device movement that put Chromebooks in schools across the US and now has millions of Workspace for Education users from kindergarten to postgrad.
