At its Google I/O conference, Google announced enhancements to its generative AI technologies tailored for educators. Ben Gomes, Google's head of Learning & Education, highlighted the transformative impact of generative AI on learning, emphasizing its potential to support educators and learners by advancing curiosity and understanding. To support these efforts, Google is launching LearnLM, a new AI model specifically designed for students. Additionally, Google is integrating its flagship Gemini AI model into Google Workspace for Education.
The LearnLM model, built on the Gemini AI framework, has been refined to support student advancement through five main objectives: facilitating practice and productive struggle with prompt feedback, offering relevant structured information in multiple formats, dynamically adjusting to individual goals and needs with pertinent materials, fostering engagement to motivate learners, and assisting learners in planning, monitoring, and reflecting on their progress.
Google plans to integrate LearnLM into several of its products. On Android devices, LearnLM will enhance the Circle to Search feature, enabling users to solve complex math problems. In Google Search, it will rephrase or recontextualize content for better understanding. Integration with the YouTube app will allow viewers to interact with videos, such as asking questions or seeking clarification.
Starting May 23, users can purchase one of two add-ons: Gemini Education and Gemini Education Premium. These add-ons, available to Google Workspace for Education users aged 18 and over, offer varying levels of features, with the basic version having a monthly usage cap.
Google assures "enterprise-grade data protection" with these Gemini add-ons. In the coming months, it will introduce additional data protection at no extra cost for users accessing Gemini through their school accounts. This enhancement ensures that data from these interactions will not be used to train Google's AI models or be shared with other entities, including Google employees.
