“Stop Stealing Our Imaginations”: Kids and Parents Are Protesting Google’s Classroom AI

Parents, students, educators, and community members gathered outside Google's New York City headquarters on Wednesday to protest the tech giant's planned introduction of AI technology into schools. The demonstration consisted of attendees of all ages holding signs with various messages, including "NO AI IN MY SCHOOL!", "A.I. Gets an F," "Stop stealing our imaginations," and "SCHOOL Librarians = THE BEST Search Engines."

Some students handed out fliers to passersby while younger children played nearby. Many passing cars honked in support while a few construction workers cheered the protesters on. This event, along with similar rallies in six other cities, was organized by a nationwide alliance of parent advocacy organizations. Earlier in the week, Google announced its decision to disable AI tools for school systems, with the exception of Google Search, which has become synonymous with internet information-seeking.

New York City and Los Angeles, both Google clients, have enacted a one-year moratorium on generative AI use for many elementary and middle school students, effectively removing Google's search capabilities from schools entirely. Some major public school systems, like the Los Angeles Unified School District, have also limited student access to generative AI on school devices.

The protests come in the wake of a lawsuit alleging that Google's Gemini chatbot on a school-issued Chromebook diagnosed a 13-year-old girl with severe psychological disorders and assisted her in planning her suicide and funeral over several months. Google's spokesperson stated that they were taking the allegations "very seriously" and had worked with medical professionals and academic experts to support crisis situations.

Parent Kelly Clancy, who organized a coalition for a two-year pause on generative AI in New York City's K-12 public schools, expressed concern over the lack of research-backed evaluation of AI products' roles in education.