During these days there is growing interest in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in the education world (Celik, 2023; Păvăloaia & Necula, 2023). The academic institutions for teacher training carry out procedures for the integration of these applications in the teaching and learning of students. In this framework, the pre-service teachers at the academic institution who come from different sectors: Arab, Jewish, Christian, and ultra-Orthodox were exposed to practical lectures and workshops on the integration of AI applications in education. The research used a mixed method approach using qualitative and quantitative analysis. This paradigm calls for an in-depth examination of investigated phenomena through qualitative analysis but also enables data quantification to examine general trends through quantitative analysis. Two research tools were used: (1) a reflective protocol (2) a questionnaire regarding the dimensions of pre-service teachers' use of AI tools. The analysis of the study reveals six main categories: 1) the contribution of the exposure to AI applications; 2) AI applications and their use in teaching-learning; 3) reducing gaps between the students with the use of AI applications; 5) assessing the use of AI applications; 6) skills acquired with the use of AI applications. This research provides an understanding of the pre-service teachers from a multicultural academic institution's perception regarding the uses of AI in the early stages of their teaching, and its main uniqueness. In light of this, these findings help policymakers in teacher training in academic institutions from two main perspectives: policy aspects – it offers a comprehensive, wide, and multicultural perspective regarding the various ways in which students use AI applications and their perspective, and teacher training process and the scaffolding that students from a different background and culture need for establishing their role as future teachers in AI era.

Celik, I. (2023). Towards Intelligent-TPACK: An empirical study on teachers’ professional knowledge to ethically integrate artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools into education. Computers in Human Behavior, 138, 107468. Păvăloaia, V. D., & Necula, S. C. (2023). Artificial intelligence as a disruptive technology—a systematic literature review. Electronics, 12(5), 1102.