This study was conducted with the aim of exploring the relationship between students of pedagogical departments and artificial intelligence (AI). The study sample consisted of 178 students from a Department of Early Childhood Education, who participated voluntarily and completed a ten-question questionnaire designed to capture their views on the use of AI in the teaching process.

Regarding the demographic characteristics of the sample, 93.8% of the participants were female, while the remaining percentage were male, with one participant choosing not to respond to the relevant question. The age distribution showed that 95.5% of the participants were between 21 and 25 years old, while the rest were over 26 years old. In terms of academic year, 88.8% were third-year students, 7.3% were fourth-year students, and the remaining percentage were in their fifth year or beyond.

The research findings revealed that 65.7% of the participants had attended courses or seminars related to artificial intelligence. Among them, 17.8% found them extremely useful, 62% considered them useful, while the rest rated them as neither useful nor useless. The fact that approximately 20% of the participants were not satisfied with the content and teaching method of these courses highlights the need for an enhanced educational approach in the field of AI.

Regarding students' perceptions of AI applications in early childhood education, the most useful technologies were identified as educational robots (20.8%), personalized learning programs (38.8%), and content creation applications (30.9%). At the same time, the main concerns expressed by the participants related to potential dependence on technology (32.6%), the transformation of the educator's role into that of a mere information manager (29.2%), and issues of data privacy and security (20.9%).

Additionally, 94.4% of the participants had used ChatGPT, while 50% had utilized educational robots. Concerning the future integration of artificial intelligence in their professional practice, 77.5% expressed their intention to use it in lesson planning. This finding underscores the potential of AI as an educational tool, provided that it is properly integrated into the teaching process and accompanied by appropriate teacher training.

Keywords: Students, artificial intelligence, education, technology.