The Fight Over Chrome’s “Homework Help” Button

On September 2nd, Google, with little to no fanfare, added a new feature to the popular Chrome Browser. Entitled “Homework Help,” the button would appear when Google Lens detected that the user was working on a quiz or school assignment.

With one click, Google’s AI would then analyze the question and propose an answer.

Educators were almost immediately outraged. According to a report by Geoffrey Fowler at The Washington Post, several universities expressed concern over the feature. However, when the paper contacted Google about the controversy, Google announced that they were “pausing” the feature.

However, Google stopped short of saying that it would not be brought back, claiming that several students had found it helpful. They claimed it helped them “understand things visually” and was a useful tool when they were struggling.

In addition to concerns about academic integrity, privacy concerns were also raised. Many questioned the data being sent to Google to perform the task, although Google has claimed that it does not store anything from these queries other than to respond to them.

While the controversy appears to be on hold for now, the story serves as an illustration of the challenges schools face in maintaining academic integrity when it comes to AI. The issue isn’t just about students cheating; it’s about tech companies actively pushing them to do so.

Why This is Different

According to Cloudflare Radar, Google Chrome has over 65% of the browser market share. It is more than four times as popular as the second-place competitor, Apple Safari, which holds 15%.

It is easily the most popular browser on the planet and is the default for Android phones and Chromebook devices. Mathematically, if you are reading this article, you are most likely reading it on Google Chrome.

In short, it can be said that Chrome is nearly ubiquitous. As such, any feature added to Chrome will immediately be in the hands of a majority of students. This includes the aforementioned “Homework Help” feature.

To clarify, this feature was launched without any prior public notice or warning. It was introduced as part of a broader effort to integrate Google Lens features into Chrome; however, I have not found any consultation with academia before its launch.

But that, by itself, is not new. Ever since the invention of the pocket calculator (and even before), teachers have had to contend with how evolving technology has aided students in cheating. But AI is different.

Historically, if students wanted to cheat, they had to seek out tools that facilitated cheating. Essay Mills, for example, had to spend millions in marketing to tell students they were there. Even then, students still had to take multiple steps to use one.

With AI, companies are working to integrate AI into places where students are already completing coursework. The recent Google Chrome controversy may be one of the most egregious, but it’s far from alone.

Both Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and Grammarly all have built-in generative AI features that can draft a document. Tools that have been historically used to draft and edit documents can now generate them. The same is true for spreadsheet and presentation programs such as Excel and PowerPoint.

In that light, the recent Google Chrome controversy is just the next evolution of AI’s intrusion. Although these features can all be turned off in educator-controlled environments, nothing can be done on students’ private devices.

And that is the major problem. The challenge for teachers is no longer how to dissuade students from seeking out tools for cheating. It is how you help students avoid the pitfalls already in their space.

As difficult as enforcing academic integrity has always been, this only raises the bar even further.

What Can Be Done?

To be clear, there’s no simple solution here. The threat AI represents to academic and research integrity is unlike anything academia has addressed before. But there are a few things that can be done.

The first is to understand that no singular approach will be perfect. All approaches will have gaps, and the “Swiss Cheese” approach is the only way to close as many of those gaps as possible. This includes steps such as using AI detectors, crafting AI-resistant assignments and requiring more in-person work. Each approach has limitations, but layered together, they can have a meaningful impact.

However, another layer is almost certainly going to be controlled computing environments. Many schools already implement this practice, placing restrictions on school-owned computers; however, those restrictions are often rendered meaningless when students are allowed to use their own devices without any limitations.

This has led to a recent uptick in controlled environments, such as Grammarly Authorship, Turnitin Clarity, and Rumi Essay (Note: I’ll be discussing Rumi in more detail soon), to name a few. However, there are other options available as well, including the LockDown Browser, which is designed primarily for assessments.

However, even these tools can be limited if students have other personal devices, such as cell phones, with them. This is why exam monitoring is becoming a rapidly growing area of academic integrity.

Still, the push for academia-specific writing environments makes sense. Google Docs and Microsoft Word may be popular among students, but these are general-purpose writing environments.

Though they include features for students, such as citation aids, they’re intended to be used by everyone from casual writers to business professionals. They are going to cater to the broadest audience, including when it comes to AI.

That, in turn, is what makes Google’s recent decision so damaging. It didn’t create a general-purpose AI tool that could be used for cheating; it created a student-targeted AI tool specifically designed for cheating.

Bottom Line

Five years ago, teachers and schools were battling essay mills, contract cheating sites and so-called “homework help” services. That was, to put it mildly, bad enough.

Today, they’re battling companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Anthropic and Apple. As these companies race to put AI everywhere they can, it’s inevitably ending up in environments and spaces where it isn’t appropriate.

General-purpose tools like Google Docs and Microsoft Word have been popular with teachers and students alike because they meet the needs of both and are widely available. However, the rapid rise of AI is raising concerns about its suitability in the classroom.

To be clear, no one wants to require students to do their work in controlled spaces. There are significant cost, privacy and implementation concerns. Furthermore, most teachers want students to learn in environments that they will use outside of the classroom.

However, when Google and Microsoft are the ones promoting these cheating tools, there is a genuine need to reassess their suitability for academic use. Does permitting students to use Google Docs make sense? What about requiring a locked-down version of it? What about a different word processor altogether?

Google’s actions make it significantly more difficult to ensure students aren’t taking shortcuts. And to do so unannounced and without any consultation from the academic community adds insult to injury. Teachers and administrators are justified in being outraged.

While schools may never be able to fully prevent AI cheating, they can take steps to discourage it and mitigate its impact. What they don’t need is Google putting it in students’ faces as part of their nearly-ubiquitous browser.

That is a fight that they may never be able to win.