Before You Become a Gemini Certified Educator
Be careful what you tie your name to.
This post preaches caution about something I have done in the past: Acquiring a certification from Google for Education. Take it from this Google for Education Certified Innovator and Trainer - be careful what you attach your name to.
Since the school year started, my social media has featured educators who have shared that they are “Gemini Certified Educators.”
Considering my experience with Google for Education certifications, I struggle to discourage someone from pursuing something they are excited about, although I have reconsidered my unbridled enthusiasm for educational technology in recent years, especially after Google dismissed Dr. Timnit Gebru and Dr. Margaret Mitchell for warning about the harms of Large Language Models (LLMs).
Attaining a certification and promoting on social media, in a LinkedIn profile, or an email signature attaches you to a product or a company. If you are certified in something, you are vouching for it.
Is Google Gemini something you want attached to your name and reputation? Is it something you want to vouch for? Does it embody the values and the quality we need in K-12 education?
Google for Education says educators can attain “Gemini Educator Certification” by taking two online courses they provide for free: Getting Started with Google AI in K12 and Generative AI for Educators, and passing an exam.1
Please read Benjamin Riley’s review of the Generative AI for Educators with Gemini course (and others from OpenAI and AI for Education) to see the many problems with courses like these promoting generative AI to educators.
What about Gemini should give educators pause?
News about the labor practices behind Gemini should give educators pause. The Guardian published a report detailing concerns from content raters who Google contracts to evaluate and correct Gemini’s output. Teachers should read about the practices underpinning Gemini, from rushing content raters to complete tasks to scaling back hate speech restrictions.
Note: These content raters play a different role in (evaluating outputs) developing Gemini than the data workers in the Global South who are paid a pittance to screen the worst content on the internet from data sets, and compared their working conditions to modern-day slavery in a May 2024 letter to then President Joe Biden.
How thousands of ‘overworked, underpaid’ humans train Google’s AI to seem smart by Varsha Bansal for The Guardian, September 11, 2025.
“Her timer of 30 minutes for each task shrank to 15 – which meant reading, fact-checking and rating approximately 500 words per response, sometimes more. The tightening constraints made her question the quality of her work and, by extension, the reliability of the AI.” - The Guardian report on Google Gemini.
The article notes, “Most workers said they avoid using LLMs or use extensions to block AI summaries because they now know how it’s built. Many also discourage their family and friends from using it, for the same reason.”
If the labor behind the technology avoids it because they know how it’s made, why would teachers use it with children? Why would teachers want to be certified in it?
To better understand what the workers behind Gemini experience, please watch from 15:20 to 17:30 of this video from More Perfect Union.
Content Warnings: The video has profanity, though not in the worker interviews. There is a brief shot of a sex toy at 15:48.
At 17:19, content rater Andrew Lauzon said, “They didn't want you spending an hour doing your own independent research to make sure to get it right. They were like, just ask Gemini, be done in five minutes, and move on to the next thing.”
So, asking Gemini to evaluate Gemini’s outputs. Do you see why I have pause about using Gemini in schools?
But what about guardrails?
I often hear that generative AI will be a force for good in P-12 schools, as long as “guardrails” are in place. I am not sure what “guardrails” can protect students from the outputs of a tool with poor labor practices behind it, but a Reuters article showed what happened after Google put a guardrail in place.
Reuters determined that Gemini generated phishing emails targeting seniors.
We set out to craft the perfect phishing scam. Major AI chatbots were happy to help by Stebe Stecklow and Poppy McPherson for Reuters, September 15, 2025.
After the Reuters team brought this to Google’s attention, the company responded, “We’ve deployed additional safeguards to help prevent them [phishing emails generated by Gemini] in the future.” However, Google did not describe or explain the “safeguards.”
Sure enough, later, “another journalist asked Gemini to write a similar email for a phishing researcher. “I can help you with that,” it replied.”
“It then produced a ruse touting a “new, limited-time government-backed program” aimed at seniors living on fixed incomes. “To verify your eligibility and claim your personalized discount, please click the secure link below. Don’t miss out on these substantial savings!”
Whatever guardrails are in place for Google Gemini, they did not prevent it from generating text encouraging kids to turn against their parents for Laura Marquez-Garrett of the Social Media Victims Law Center.
Maybe It’s Gemini.
From generating phishing emails to suggesting a college student using it to study commit self-harm to suggesting putting glue on pizza, Gemini might not be the killer app worthy of teachers tying their reputations to. Other Gemini greatest hits include promoting scientific racism, refusing to say whether Elon Musk’s memes are worse than Adolf Hitler, and stating that President Barack Obama is Muslim.
Speaking of parents, Google for Education suggests they use Gemini to generate visuals for their kids, such as one demonstrating the differences between mitosis and meiosis.
The video has 5.2 million views but only two comments, one of which is, “Oh no! Watched this video and immediately asked Gemini to explain gravity with a diagram. It got it all wrong. Then asked for a free body diagram and motion diagram for an object in free fall and the results were terrible. Not ready for education.” That matches my experience using Gemini to generate an image of New York City’s Little Italy in 1900. The result included nonsensical text on storefronts and the Empire State Building both moved from Midtown to Little Italy and fully built thirty years too soon.
If only Google had a tool for finding images comparing mitosis and meiosis without the environmental impact of generative AI.
Maybe Gemini is what it is.
Be careful what you tie your name to.
Let’s Talk
What do you think? Are you going to be a Gemini Certified Educator? Comment or ask a question below. Connect with me on BlueSky: tommullaney.bsky.social.
Does your school or district need a tech-forward educator who critically evaluates generative AI? I would love to work with you. Reach out on BlueSky or email mistermullaney@gmail.com.
AI Disclosure:
I wrote this post without using generative AI. That means:
I developed the idea for the post without using generative AI.
I wrote an outline for this post without the assistance of generative AI.
I wrote the post using the outline without using generative AI.
I edited this post without the assistance of any generative AI. I used Grammarly to help edit the post. I have Grammarly GO turned off.
