Conference Program

Abstract

The growing presence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in contemporary societies, and particularly in education, is reshaping how knowledge is produced, accessed and interpreted (Brandao, 2025; Rossi et al., 2025). Within broader processes of digitalization and datafication, algorithmic systems increasingly influence the circulation of knowledge and the ways individuals engage with information. However, whether GenAI represents primarily risks or opportunities for younger generations remains relatively underexplored. While its use may become problematic when it is purely instrumental and oriented toward rapid output production, it may also foster meaningful learning when it promotes reflective and critical engagement with knowledge and supports the development of AI literacy and critical thinking skills (Walter, 2024). These transformations raise important questions regarding whether students possess the tools to critically engage with artificial intelligence and whether these technologies can contribute to the democratic mission of education, particularly in relation to citizenship formation.

Within the field of sociology of education, these developments call for renewed reflection on algorithmic authority, digital mediation and the ways students interact with algorithmically generated knowledge. In response to these challenges, this paper presents a classroom laboratory designed as a pedagogical and sociological experiment in which university students engage critically with generative AI systems while exploring sociological concepts such as identity, social roles and inequality. The objective is not merely to employ AI as a technological tool, but to examine how algorithmic responses may reflect, reproduce or reshape existing social narratives.

Methodologically, the study develops a classroom laboratory adopting a qualitative and exploratory approach grounded in participatory peer-based research methods. The activity takes place within the university course Sociology of Education in the Digital Age at the University of Turin (academic year 2025–2026) and involves a cohort of 35 students. The study dynamics are implemented through the use of the generative artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT (OpenAI) and structured instruments designed around key sociological concepts such as identity, social roles and inequality. The data generated—including students’ prompts, AI responses and collective classroom reflections—are analyzed through a qualitative interpretative approach aimed at identifying patterns of reasoning, emerging narratives and processes of metacognitive reflection on algorithmically mediated knowledge.

By encouraging students to interrogate the assumptions embedded in AI-generated discourse, the laboratory promotes metacognitive awareness of how knowledge is constructed within digitally mediated environments and supports the development of student agency in relation to algorithmic systems. The study argues that such pedagogical practices can strengthen critical engagement with emerging technologies while addressing broader democratic challenges associated with artificial intelligence, including the capacity to recognize algorithmic bias, counter disinformation and foster forms of digital citizenship in contemporary educational contexts.