HOW ARE EXPERIENCES WITH AI, ATTITUDES TOWARDS ITS USE, AND ETHICAL CONCERNS OF STUDENT TEACHERS RELATED TO ONE ANOTHER: A CORRELATION ANALYSIS

The aim of the study was to examine the relationships between understanding of artificial intelligence (AI), level of practical experience, attitudes towards pedagogical use of AI and ethical concerns of student teachers. The research had a quantitative, non-experimental correlational design and was based on data obtained by the author's questionnaire (10 items, Likert scale 1–6; α = 0.798). The sample consisted of 1432 students of teacher education programs from Slovak universities, collected in the academic years 2023–2025. The relationships between variables were analyzed using Spearman's correlation coefficient. The results confirmed that understanding of AI is significantly related to students' experiences (ρ = 0.181–0.311; p < .001). At the same time, higher levels of experience were associated with more positive attitudes towards implementing AI in education (ρ = 0.217–0.405; p < .001). Ethical concerns were linked to more negative attitudes towards AI and higher support for regulatory measures (ρ = 0.266–0.398; p < .001). The findings suggest that understanding, experience and ethical attitudes form an interrelated system of factors influencing future teachers’ readiness to work with AI, and underline the need for balanced preparation combining practical use of AI with systematic ethical reflection.