Reality and perception of pre-service early childhood teachers related artificial intelligence and demands for education

This study analyzed the reality and perception of pre-service early childhood teachers regarding artificial intelligence, and the demands for education. For this purpose, a survey was conducted on 145 students in the department of early childhood education at colleges in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, and the collected data were analyzed using SPSS 29.0. The research results are as follows. First, compared to their experience using artificial intelligence, pre-service early childhood teachers' level of interest and understanding of artificial intelligence was average, and they understood artificial intelligence as ‘a computer system that can think similar to humans.’ In addition, the negative perception of artificial intelligence was higher than the positive perception, and its influence on oneself was at an average level. Second, the need for artificial intelligence education for pre-service early childhood teachers was highly recognized. Additionally, with the goal of improving the ability to support play using artificial intelligence, the professional professors were requested to teach about future social changes and cases of artificial intelligence education through play. Based on the results of this study, implications for the development of artificial intelligence education subjects for pre-service early childhood teachers were discussed.