Topic. The humanization potential of AITs is currently threatened by various problems, including the risk of homologation of thought and behaviour, that is linked to the current relationship of man with images. Because of the production and diffusion of an unlimited and accelerated visual content generated by the AITs, man is not granted the "necessary distance to face the uncertainty of reflection and imagination" (Morelli, 2010, p. 43), which are absolutely necessary to demonstrate a critical, responsible, participatory and democratic citizenship.

The art created with the AI would allow the new generations to approach early and critically visual culture and contemporary issues related to it, in order to encourage a continuous critical interpretation of the reality and risks attached to the AITs.

Research question. What is the contribution that the visual art experience generated with the AITs can offer in primary school to obtain a critical thinking on the potentialities and problems related to the AITs?

Objective. The paper aims to clarify the potential and the recommendations  offered by the current learning experiences through visual art generated with AITs carried out mainly in primary school to promote a critical thinking on the potentialities and problems related to the AITs.

Theoretical Framework. The current human-AITs relationship, due to its complexity, presents great problems because of the pervasive characteristics of the technologies themselves. At the same time, however, this relationship has a huge potential for humanisation that is still to be explored (Ferraris, 2021).

The problematic aspects concern at least two areas: the field of thought and the field of aesthetic experience. As for the first area, we can see how some mechanisms of digital capitalism, directing the modes of thought and behaviour of man, can cause the homologation to the unique thinking (Stiegler, 2015).

As for the second field, that of aesthetic experience, the AITs, because of their diffusion in everyday life, influence and orient our own social categories of aesthetic judgment, becoming the new parameter that dominates the market (Manovich, 2020).

In order to understand the inherent potential of humanization that characterizes the human-AITs relationship, it is necessary to take a step back that can highlight the original root of this relationship. In fact, it was thanks to technology that, since ancient times, man has been able to survive and develop some of his main features.

The main experience that recalls the origin of the human-technical relationship is that linked to art, which is a fundamental and indispensable stage of the evolution of the human species. Many studies based on the possible origin and on the subsequent development of human intelligence, have highlighted the original interdependence between the hand (which allows the technical ability to manipulate objects and to produce artistic works) and the brain (Leroi-Gourhan, 1977; McGinn, 2015).

The birth of art, connected to the moment when man began to produce technical instruments, imply a particular skill in their use. In this way, he was able to overcome the idea of existence in terms of life and death and, at the same time, he was able to transcend material reality to find more hidden meanings (Chiurazzi, 2021).

Consequently, new generations need an early and universal formation that aims to recover and increase the humanization potential that exists in the human-technical relationship and to train the critical and creative skills necessary to manage the current critical issues. A possible way of learning for primary school children could involve art itself. Among the different aesthetic experiences, a very promising one is that of visual art made through the AITs (Biasini, Selvaggi & Catricalà, 2020).

From November 2022 to January 2023, a systematic review of literature has been conducted on scientific databases (Jstor, Ebsco, Scopus) in order to clarify the contribution that visual art experience, generated with the AITs, can offer in primary school to promote a critical thinking on the potentialities and problems related to the AITs. It has been conducted with inclusion of criteria of time range (2014-2023), types of publications (su peer-reviewed articles and book chapters) and contents (“AI and Primary Education and AI arts”). The selection of the literature, carried out according to the typical phases of the systematic survey (Peterson et al., 2017), led to the identification of 30 studies, 5 of which are perfectly relevant to the research objective. After analysing, coding, classifying and categorizing them, 5 central themes emerged that were useful to answer the research question. These themes are related to the technological tools used to carry out the training, to the educational approach, the disciplinary areas of realization of the experiences, and to the learning objectives and its limits. On a methodological level, therefore, as regards technological tools, it emerged that AR, smart glasses, smartphones, tablet computers and the micro-bit device were used (Chen, Lin & Chien, 2022; Lu, Lo & Syu, 2021). As for the educational approach, the most recurrent one was based on collaborative learning (Chen, Lin & Chien, 2022; Li, Luo, Zhao, Zhu, Ma & Liao, 2022). It allows the active participation of children to the artistic process, offering a space that stimulates their imagination and that allows them to express their opinions and their willingness to participate and to act concretely (Blanco & Cidrás, 2022). Aesthetic experiences contribute to the construction of the subjectivity of individuals through the reworking of non-homologating scenarios that stimulate children to be not only simple consumers, but also producers of visual art (Gutiérrez-Cabello Barragán, Guerra Guezuraga & Peña-Zabala, 2021). As regards the disciplinary areas of implementation, such experiences support the areas of STEM and arts education, influencing positively both learning and motivation towards science, and the development of imagination and quality of artistic performance (Chen, Lin & Chien, 2022; Li, Luo, Zhao, Zhu, Ma & Liao, 2022; Perignat & Katz-Buonincontro, 2019).

After having analysed, codified, classified and categorized these studies and the themes emerged, it is possible to say that the visual art experience generated with the AITs can allow to obtain these results related a critical approach with visual culture and a critical interpretation of the reality and risks attached to the AITs. Firstly it allows to develop the key skills of both digital competence and critical thinking, problem solving skills, creativity, ability to communicate and to establish interpersonal and intercultural relationships (Blanco & Cidrás, 2022; Li, Luo, Zhao, Zhu, Ma & Liao, 2022; Shih-Yun, Chih-Cheng, Jia-Yu, 2021). These experiences highlighted the importance for children to take an active and participatory role in the artistic production, emphasizing the value of group experiences (creative workshops, cooperative learning or brainstorming). Despite these potential related to learning objectives, the study also revealed some limits in three respects. The first one is the difficulty of properly integrating art and technology into the school curriculum so that they both have the same value (Blanco & Cidrás, 2022; Lu, Lo & Syu, 2021). The second aspect concerns the need to adequately train teachers for this purpose, to ensure the effectiveness of educational experiences and to maintain a high level of motivation of children (Chen, Lin & Chien, 2022; Li, Luo, Zhao, Zhu, Ma & Liao, 2022). The third aspect concerns the need to extend these experiences to the humanities and social disciplines in order to promote a complete formation of the subjects, that educates to think about how to contribute to the development of a creative society, and at the same time explores the potential offered by an interdisciplinary approach (Epstein, 2012; Huerta & Cristóbal, 2020; Li, Luo, Zhao, Zhu, Ma & Liao, 2022; Lu, Lo & Syu, 2021).

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