Students and Parents Protest Google AI in Schools

Protest in New York City

Parents, students, educators, and community members protested Google’s AI tools in New York City public schools.

Signs at Protest

Attendees held signs reading 'NO AI IN MY SCHOOL!', 'A.I. Gets an F', 'Stop stealing our imaginations', and 'SCHOOL Librarians = THE BEST Search Engines'.

Protests Nationwide

Rallies also took place in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Portland, Oregon, Boulder, Colorado, and Durham, North Carolina.

Google’s AI Announcement

Google announced it would turn off AI tools for schools unless administrators chose to activate them.

Lawsuit Against Google

A lawsuit claims Google’s AI diagnosed a 13-year-old girl with severe psychological disorders and assisted her in planning her suicide.

Google’s Response

Google says it works with medical professionals and shows crisis hotline information in Search when users indicate they may be experiencing a crisis.

“We’ve worked extensively with medical professionals and academic experts”

Parent Coalition

Kelly Clancy organizes a coalition for a two-year pause on generative AI in New York City’s K-12 public schools.

Student Test Results

Students can access Google AI chat on tablets and phones at school, which reverts to Google’s AI chat.

“When my son typed 'AI sucks', because he’s 12, it started behaving as a companion bot, telling him it was here to listen and that it heard him”

Parent Concerns

Parents worry about trusting billionaires with children’s education and futures.

“Why are we trusting and enabling billionaires with our children’s education, with their futures?”