Google will let schools skip AI tools, but they have to give up search, too

While Google is trying to move beyond Chromebooks, the ubiquity of these devices has made the company’s education products huge in schools. Now, Google says it will let educators choose whether to allow its AI tools in the classroom. However, blocking AI tools also means giving up search, leaving schools with a difficult decision.

尽管谷歌正试图超越 Chromebook 的范畴，但这些设备的普及已使其教育产品在学校中占据了重要地位。现在，谷歌表示将允许教育工作者自行选择是否在课堂上使用其人工智能工具。然而，屏蔽人工智能工具也意味着必须放弃搜索功能，这让学校面临着一个艰难的抉择。

Google’s new overarching approach to AI in K-12 classrooms sounds good on the surface. After consulting educators, researchers, and lawmakers, Google has decided that schools using its education products will be opted out of AI tools by default. It will be up to administrators to manually enable them when these changes roll out in the coming months.

谷歌针对 K-12 课堂人工智能所采取的全新总体方针，表面上听起来不错。在咨询了教育工作者、研究人员和立法者后，谷歌决定，使用其教育产品的学校将默认关闭人工智能工具。在未来几个月这些变更推出后，将由管理员手动开启这些功能。

When you look at what Google considers to be an AI tool, the nature of the Faustian bargain becomes clear. The affected products are Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Google Search. There’s no picking and choosing—you either allow all the AI or none of it.

当你审视谷歌所定义的人工智能工具时，这种“浮士德式交易”的本质便显露无疑。受影响的产品包括 Gemini、Gemini Notebook、Gemini in Classroom 以及谷歌搜索。你无法进行挑选——要么全部启用人工智能，要么全部禁用。

This is actually consistent with Google’s approach in the consumer space. Google executives have said in no uncertain terms that Google Search is AI search. Most searches now provide an AI Overview at the top, and the company is constantly coming up with new ways to nudge people toward the conversational AI Mode chatbot function. Google sees this as the future.

这实际上与谷歌在消费领域的做法是一致的。谷歌高管已明确表示，谷歌搜索就是人工智能搜索。目前大多数搜索结果的顶部都会提供“人工智能概览”（AI Overview），而且该公司不断推出新方法，引导用户使用对话式人工智能模式的聊天机器人功能。谷歌将此视为未来。

In a statement to The New York Times, Google education VP Chris Phillips reiterated this approach to web search. “Search and AI are deeply integrated,” he said, adding that if a school chooses not to enable AI, the students “will not have access to search, and they’ll see a message from their school that indicates it’s not available.”

在给《纽约时报》的一份声明中，谷歌教育副总裁克里斯·菲利普斯（Chris Phillips）重申了这种网络搜索方针。他表示：“搜索与人工智能已深度整合。”并补充说，如果学校选择不启用人工智能，学生们“将无法使用搜索功能，并且会看到一条来自学校的提示信息，说明该功能不可用。”

Google could make a version of search for schools that doesn’t have AI tools, but it’s not doing that. Instead, it’s creating two different versions of AI in search. When schools enable AI for student accounts, they’ll have two options: the standard Gemini-based AI and the new “Guided Learning” version. The latter, available in Classroom as well as search, is supposed to provide one-on-one tutoring and assistance without giving away all the answers.

谷歌本可以为学校制作一个不含人工智能工具的搜索版本，但它并没有这样做。相反，它在搜索中创建了两个不同的人工智能版本。当学校为学生账户启用人工智能时，他们有两个选择：标准的基于 Gemini 的人工智能和全新的“引导式学习”（Guided Learning）版本。后者可在 Classroom 和搜索中使用，旨在提供一对一的辅导和帮助，而不会直接给出所有答案。

Google notes all of its generative AI products can make “mistakes,” though, so it may not be difficult to talk the chatbot into doing your homework. Google is betting that schools won’t want to give up Google Search and will therefore accept AI tools. This will expose students to AI early and often, possibly changing the way they interact with technology.

不过，谷歌指出其所有的生成式人工智能产品都可能犯“错误”，因此想要说服聊天机器人帮你写作业或许并不困难。谷歌押注学校不会愿意放弃谷歌搜索，因此会接受人工智能工具。这将使学生尽早且频繁地接触人工智能，并可能改变他们与技术互动的方式。

Schools that don’t like Google’s approach could switch to alternatives like DuckDuckGo, which lets you disable AI features. But will Google’s new Guided Learning be enough to assuage their concerns?

不喜欢谷歌这种做法的学校可以转向 DuckDuckGo 等替代方案，这些方案允许用户禁用人工智能功能。但谷歌新的“引导式学习”功能是否足以消除他们的顾虑呢？