Chicago schools tell Google they'd rather lose Search than be forced to use AI
techspot.comI don't have a lot of confidence in the decision of the Chicago schools. AI will be a fundamental tool in the future. Knowing how to use it effectively is as important as knowing how to read.
Calculators are an important tool, and using them effectively (automated or manually) is certainly as important as using AI. We don’t force kids to use calculators for every math problem in elementary school. That would be absurd. Same goes for AI.
NYC and LA are doing the same. If you don’t learn to think before you learn to use AI, you’re just a slop meat proxy who will be useless without a functioning chat prompt.
https://stateline.org/2026/09/08/the-largest-us-school-distr...
This feels like an own goal by Google. It is reasonable for schools to want to ban what not only amounts to a cheating tool but also something that may hamper development of advanced skills in a critical period for students.
Go and work with the school to create a policy and you can be perceived as a good guy in a field where the public really hates everyone else in the industry. Also, that gives you more input on what the policy will be rather than a blanket ban.
The school wants functional web search. Google only wants to offer an AI "search" because managers get bonuses for burning tokens.
Everyone wants an accurately indexed web except all of the people trying to monetize it.