Artificial intelligence in religious education: teacher perspectives from a national professional development context

Abstract This study examines teachers’ perceptions of and orientations to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the context of Religious Education (RE), drawing on survey data collected from 54 in-service RE teachers participating in the SUB8 professional development programme in Greece. Using a descriptive survey design grounded in the frameworks of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), AI literacy, and digital self-efficacy, the study maps teachers’ reported practices, competencies, and concerns across seven thematic dimensions. Findings indicate generally positive orientations towards AI-assisted instructional design within this cohort, alongside significant theological and pedagogical concerns regarding its use in spiritually sensitive contexts. Qualitative responses point to three recurring themes: the productive utility of AI for lesson preparation and differentiation; persistent concerns about accuracy, depth, and the reliability of AI-generated content; and a strong consensus that AI must function as a supplementary pedagogical tool, subordinate to the relational and experiential dimensions of RE. Because participants were self-selected members of an AI-focused training programme and were surveyed immediately upon its completion, these findings are interpreted as descriptive of this specific professional development context rather than of Greek RE teachers in general. The study complements recent comparative evidence from Germany and Poland by providing, to the author’s knowledge, the first empirical account of AI perceptions among RE teachers within an Orthodox national professional development context, and it foregrounds a theological and epistemological dimension still largely absent from AI-in-education research.