An Investigation of Preschool Teacher Candidates' Metaphorical Perceptions of the Concept of “Artificial Intelligence”

This study aims to examine preschool teacher candidates' perceptions of artificial intelligence through metaphors. Fifty-four students enrolled in the preschool education department of a foundation university's education faculty in Istanbul during the 2024-2025 academic year participated. However, only 50 teacher candidates' responses were included in the analysis. Research data were collected via online survey form containing open-ended questions. Participants were asked to complete the sentence “Artificial intelligence is like ... because ...” and the responses were examined using qualitative data analysis techniques. According to the research findings, teacher candidates' metaphorical perceptions of the concept of artificial intelligence can be grouped under five themes. The findings show that artificial intelligence is most often conceptualized in terms of human-like characteristics, followed by perceptions related to cognitive power and technological-mechanical qualities. To a more limited extent, artificial intelligence has been conceptualized as a functional-instrumental structure and an abstract value. In general, it can be said that teacher candidates position artificial intelligence as both a human-like system and a system with high cognitive capacity. The results obtained show that teacher candidates' perceptions of artificial intelligence mostly remain at a superficial level, but some candidates are able to develop a deeper and more pedagogical understanding of this concept. In this context, while teacher candidates in different disciplines are receiving education in education faculties, increasing their metaphorical work can enable teacher candidates to think more deeply and express their thoughts from different perspectives.