The recent global emergence of freely accessible Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms has marked a radical turning point in the field of education as well. However, while some analysts magnify the potential beneficial effects of AI on student learning, others highlight the risk that AI may impoverish the social and emotional aspects of teaching and, more broadly, deprofessionalize teachers (Holmes, 2023; UNESCO, 2021). This tension also permeates research on AI in Education (AIED), which highlights the potential of such tools in promoting student learning (e.g., by providing personalized learning content and intelligent feedback), but overlooks the crucial role played by teachers in facilitating this enhancement (Lameras, 2022). In light of this, it is pivotal to investigate the effects that the introduction of AI in schools has on teacher agency, as a key dimension of their professionalism. To this end, this contribution adopts a notion of agency as an ecological and relational dimension, which emerges through dialogue among actors within the structural and cultural context they are part of (Edwards, 2015; Pantić, 2015). In this sense, the literature emphasizes that teacher beliefs are instrumental in achieving professional agency (Priestley et al., 2015). Consequently, it is important to understand whether they also play a relevant role in shaping their approach to AI in education. This theme has been investigated through an exploratory study that examined the perceptions and orientations of primary school teachers towards AI through two research questions: - RQ1: What are the beliefs of primary school teachers regarding the use of AI in education? - RQ2: What are their expectations and fears in this regard? The study used a mixed methods approach through a survey that included both closed and open-ended questions directed at primary school teachers in Italy. The participants were a convenience sample, contacted through bulk email invitations, totaling 327 respondents. The quantitative data were processed through a descriptive analysis using SPSS, while the open responses were examined using thematic analysis supported by NVivo. The analysis of the survey results offers an initial interesting overview of teachers' beliefs regarding the potential impact of AI on their professional agency. The findings and their related implications in terms of ethics, inclusion, and social justice will be presented and discussed during the symposium.

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