Google enables Chrome OS AI features for education users by default

A sweeping new change defaults Chrome's AI features on for education users. See the full list of settings and check your values.

Last updated November 13, 2024

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NEWInstantly audit your own settings

See the full list of Chrome AI settings below, and sign in with your admin account to check that you've configured the settings to your preference.

Name	Recommendation	Current
Help Me Write	Blocked	Sign in with your Google Admin account to check your current values for these settings Error getting policies. Try again in a minute
Help Me Read	Blocked
DevTools features powered by AI	Blocked
History Search	Blocked
Create Themes with AI	Blocked
Create Wallpapers with AI	Blocked
Tab Compare	Blocked
Create Video Chat Backgrounds with AI	Blocked
Automatically download local AI model	-
Tab Organizer	-

Huge change: ChromeOS Generative AI features are now default-ON for education users

When we last did a roundup of all the Chrome AI features and settings for admins, we emphasized that all of these settings were default OFF for education customers. Still, we recommended disabling most of them because, as we see validated now, defaults do indeed change!

Now Chrome has even more AI and even more settings for admins, so it's important to review your settings and make sure they're configured the way you want.

Why you might want to be cautious in rolling out AI features within Chrome

Potential for unfair advantages - Tools like Help Me Write allow users to fill any textbox with AI-generated text, using the context of the rest of the page. Imagine using this on a Google Forms Quiz, where the AI can read a text passage and then answer questions about it, e.g. describing the "theme" or "motif."
Potential for inappropriate content - In generating themes, wallpapers, and video chat backgrounds, it's unclear how schools can determine in advance whether the images will be safe for school. Generative AI can be unpredictable at times, so we'd tread lightly.
Data security - While something like developer tools AI might seem innocuous (we actually recommend blocking developer tools entirely for students), using developer tools API will send data to Google about browsing activity that you might consider sensitive. We'd leave this one off.

AI is just getting started on Chrome and ChromeOS

Google has rapidly added new AI-powered features within Chrome. If you're having trouble keeping up with the latest, sign up for the Instinctive Admin Tips & Tricks newsletter below and we'll keep you in the loop.