Making sense of AI in teacher education: A qualitative study of perceptions, practices and pedagogical tensions

This article explores how trainee teachers in France engage with artificial intelligence (AI) during their initial teacher education. Drawing on focus groups with 120 pre-service teachers from four specialisations, the study examines how AI is used, understood, and questioned in relation to pedagogical identity and institutional guidance. Thematic analysis identifies four tensions: widespread informal use coupled with conceptual ambiguity; ambivalences regarding pedagogical integration; ethical concerns; and a strong call for structured, critical, and inclusive training. These findings are situated within the current reform of French teacher education but resonate with broader debates on AI literacy and professional agency. The study contributes to the literature by foregrounding trainee voices and highlighting the institutional silences shaping their engagement with AI. It argues that meaningful integration requires not only technical instruction, but ethically informed spaces for reflection, dialogue, and pedagogical inquiry. • AI in teacher training is seen as useful—but remains confusing and unevenly deployed. • Pedagogical vacuum around AI tools shifts the burden to trainee improvisation. • Peer collaboration emerges as a workaround for institutional AI inaction. • Ethical dilemmas around AI call for stronger critical and professional literacy. • Inclusive-oriented trainees demand locally grounded and needs-sensitive training.