Social Studies Teacher Candidates’ Perceptions of the Concept of Artificial Intelligence: A Metaphor Analysis

Purpose: This study aims to examine the perceptions of social studies teacher candidates regarding the concept of artificial intelligence through the metaphors they generate. By revealing teacher candidates’ mental representations of artificial intelligence, the study seeks to contribute to a better understanding of their perceptions and to provide an original perspective for teacher education and the literature. Method: A qualitative research approach based on a phenomenological design was employed. The study group consisted of 128 social studies teacher candidates enrolled at a public university in Türkiye during the fall semester of the 2025–2026 academic year. Participants were selected on a voluntary basis using convenience sampling. Data were collected through a form including personal information questions and the prompt, “Artificial intelligence is like … because ….” The metaphors produced by the participants constituted the primary data source and were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Findings: Social studies teacher candidates generated a total of 82 valid metaphors related to artificial intelligence. These metaphors were classified into 16 categories and organized under 3 overarching themes. The most frequently generated metaphors were brain, robot, teacher, library, and human, indicating that participants associated artificial intelligence with concepts related to knowledge, cognition, guidance, technology, and human characteristics. Conclusion: The findings suggest that social studies teacher candidates have multidimensional perceptions of artificial intelligence. These results contribute to the literature by providing insights into teacher candidates’ conceptualizations of artificial intelligence and may inform education practices.