Children’s Mental Representations of Artificial Intelligence: Insights from 4th and 8th Graders

In this study, we researched how elementary and primary school students understand artificial intelligence in terms of its uses, mental representations, and the impact of gender, age, and digital experience. 521 students in Türkiye participated in the study, which was carried out as a basic qualitative investigation. Students’ responses were inductively coded in MAXQDA 24. According to the investigation, older students give more abstract and cognitively oriented explanations of AI, whilst the majority of kids link it to tangible technological instruments like computers, phones, and robots. Female students tend to express empathetic and anthropomorphic representations, whereas male students focus on technical and functional features. Higher degrees of digital device use were positively correlated with more complex conceptualizations of AI, such as interactive and human-like features. Overall, the results underscore the importance of AI-related designing of learning activities and pedagogical approaches that align with children’s developmental stages, gender differences, and digital experiences.