In the present paper, we report the findings of a qualitative survey study of 195 Finnish 5th and 6th grade students' pre-instructional conceptions of artificial intelligence (AI). An exploration of these initial conceptions provides insight into students' preliminary understanding of the topic and informs curriculum designers and teachers about misconceptions that might jeopardize student learning. The findings suggest that students' initial conceptions of AI are varied and often uninformed. For instance, references to the role of data in training AI applications were practically nonexistent. Instead, AI was often described as an anthropomorphic technology that possesses cognitive qualities equivalent to those of humans––a conception that notably resembles how AI is portrayed in the media. As a pedagogical implication, our findings suggest that it would be valuable to “demystify” AI by exploring its technical principles (i.e., the role of data) of the “human-like” AI solutions students encounter in their everyday lives.
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