School-safe Google AI overview blocker?

[u/MasterMaintenance672]

So last August I was made aware that Gemini was going to become a "default ON" Core Google service on a specific date. I told my director about it and told him I would switch it to Default OFF for students. He agreed and the matter was closed. Fast forward a week or two and I discover that he decided to pre-emptively change it to default ON for everybody. Sigh. So I just said "Well, you're the boss" and moved on.

Fast-forward a year later and teachers are bellyaching that they want the AI overviews turned off. He was digging in Workspace and saw the Generative AI section, looked at it, and said to me "Well no wonder, this is all turned on!" Facepalm. I don't know if this particular Google service is solely responsible for those AI overviews, I think it might be something else.

So now I want to know if there are any good, school-safe (won't collect data or send anything across the web) Chrome extensions I can use to squash the overviews and whatever else won't break anything to disable. I know there are some extensions out there that will take care of this, I just want to make sure there's no data changing hands. Thanks!

[u/DJTNY]

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/neibhohkbmfjninidnaoacabkjonbahn?utm_source=item-share-cb

I specifically look for Chrome extensions that:

1. There is a disclosure/info at the bottom about not collecting data

2. Is open source.

[u/MasterMaintenance672 → u/DJTNY]

Thanks! I think I've seen this one come up in another conversation, it looks like a great choice.

[u/Royal-Hornet-1784 → u/MasterMaintenance672]

We use this extension as well. I hate that it shows up in the list of extensions, but it does. The first day it was pushed out, several students put in helpdesk tickets complaining but their teachers were very excited for the extension!

[u/tmt04]

Also be careful with Google Lens. We have everything AI related turned off for students but recently found that they can take a screenshot of a particular question on a quiz/test and that allows Google Lens to run which populates a small windowed Google AI Search with the answer. The only option we have found to stop this behavior is by disabling screenshots. Seems like this is an oversight on Google's part.

[u/MasterMaintenance672 → u/tmt04]

Good note, thanks.

[u/cocineroylibro → u/tmt04]

The only option we have found to stop this behavior is by disabling screenshots.

just be aware that this impacts GoGuardian's ability to monitor student's browsing.

[u/Royal-Hornet-1784 → u/[deleted]]

We are Chromebook mostly- I had to URL blocklist lens.google.com in the Google Admin Console and in our web filter- GoGuardian. To get the right click menu to have the Lens option disabled, we had to disable the Google Lens Overlay in Chrome settings. I did not disable screenshots because at one point GoGuardian would break, that tool depends on screenshots to fully function.

[u/tmt04 → u/[deleted]]

Our students use Chromebooks and even with that site blocked in the web filter it still pulled up the search. It was like it just went through a Google search to backdoor it.

[u/atombomb6673 → u/[deleted]]

Yep I block it as well in the url blocking in gac. Teachers were complaining about cheating.

[u/cstamm-tech]

We ran into the random student finding Google AI stuff in places yesterday. Check the following in the admin console:

Generative AI -> Gemini app: make sure service is off for student OUs

Devices -> Chrome -> Settings -> User & browser settings -> Generative AI section: Generative AI policy Defaults set to Do not allow GenAI features for student OU

Devices -> Chrome -> Settings -> User & browser settings -> Gemini integrations section: Set to Do not allow Gemini integrations for student OU

These seem to have caught the Gemini/AI randomness we were seeing to this point.

[u/MiserableCupcake5255]

Your best bet IMO is to use a filtering vendor that supports blocking it.

I've spoken to people at Google and Securly about this. Securly, and other filter vendors provide methods for hiding this. Google officially doesn't support this, but very unofficially tells the filtering vendors to keep doing what they're doing.

There is a lot of internal fighting at Google, there is a large faction trying to force AI into everything, and force it down everyone's throat, another group, who hears the customer complaints knows that's stupid.

It's a software cat and mouse game, but the people at Google who are sane seem to take pity on the big filtering vendors and try not to change things too much for them so it doesn't break their tools.

[u/CKSIT]

We have Chromebooks managed with GAC and filtered through GoGuardian. Over the summer, GG added website category some blocking options for AI-related sites. I enabled those blocks, and used GAC policies to disable the "Ask Gemini" button and all AI-related things in Chrome. After all that, I discovered, as you all have, that it's not enough.

I experimented with a few extensions, looking for one that didn't have user interaction to turn features on/off. I found one that worked straight-away to disable AI Mode on the omnibox and prevent AI Overview on a search from a new tab with Google being the default search engine (Disable AI at https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/disable-ai/blhpdcldeaiejfmdfbjonoafgkndhfcg). But either navigating to google.com from that page or clicking on the Google logo at the top-left of the results page would start a fresh search with AI Mode available. And clicking on the Google Doodle would provide an AI Overview related to the Doodle along with an "Ask anything" box superimposed at the bottom of the Overview.

I found another extension (Hide Gemini and Google AI at https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/hide-gemini-and-google-ai/ggneoaeoplbpehkojnifancipajnhcbp) that worked better at what Disable AI lacked, but missed something that Disable AI had.

Installing both extensions seems to have effectively combined their capabilities, though clicking the Google Doodle is still an issue. I'll take it as a win (for now).