Turkish Language Prospective Teachers’ Perceptions of Metaphors Regarding Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

The concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) initially emerged as a term in the field of computer science. In the subsequent years, this concept transcended its origins and became relevant across various domains of human life. Nowadays, it’s possible to encounter AI in nearly every aspect of human life. In this context, it’s considered noteworthy to examine individuals’ metaphorical perceptions of AI. Accordingly, the purpose of the research is determined as the investigation of Turkish prospective teachers’ metaphorical perceptions of AI. Phenomenology, a qualitative research method, is employed in the study. The study group consists of 115 voluntary Turkish prospective teachers, 94 of whom are female and 21 are male, studying at the Faculty of Education at Artvin Çoruh University. Among the prospective teachers, 36 are first-year students, 37 are second-year students, 26 are third-year students, and 16 are fourth-year students. Data for the research are collected through semi-structured interview forms prepared by the researchers. Content analysis method is used for data analysis, and the data are presented by tabulating them along with frequency values. The analysis reveals that 115 Turkish language prospective teachers produced a total of 110 metaphors. Among these metaphors, 21 belong to male prospective teachers, while 89 belong to female prospective teachers. Metaphors such as human (f19), robot (f10), future (f4), ocean (f3), storm (f2), spring (f2), assistant (f4) are found to be generated by both female and male prospective teachers. In addition to positive metaphors, Turkish language prospective teachers also generated negative metaphors like threat (f2), massacre (f1), monster (f1), etc., concerning AI. Consequently, although Turkish language prospective teachers developed some negative metaphors, it’s observed that their perceptions of AI are predominantly positive.