Artificial intelligence in public schools: anchoring, objectification, and algorithmic issues

Abstract

This article analyzes the social representations (SR) of elementary school teachers regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI), seeking to understand how this phenomenon is symbolically incorporated into everyday school life. The study was conducted in three public schools in Fortaleza and Caucaia (CE, Brazil), using classical techniques from Social Representation Theory (Moscovici, 2001; 2007), such as free word association, hierarchical ranking, and term questioning. The results identified “Technology” and “Knowledge” as central elements of the teachers’ SR, while “Internet,” “Research,” “Innovation,” and “ChatGPT” occupied the periphery. This configuration reveals processes of anchoring – linking AI to categories already familiar within the pedagogical universe – and objectification –materializing it into concrete symbols of everyday use. The analysis shows that, for teachers, AI is perceived as a learning support tool, yet surrounded by doubts and ethical concerns. The study underscores the need for teacher training in digital literacy to foster a critical and conscious use of technology. Furthermore, it points to the importance of continuing research on algorithmic exclusions, through the lens of the concept of necroalgorithmization (Araújo, 2025), as well as on students’ growing dependence on generative AIs, both of which emerge as central issues for the future of education in the algorithmic era.