Gender and Age Dynamics in Future Educators' Attitudes toward AI Integration in Education: A Sample from State-managed Universities in Zamboanga Peninsula, Philippines

Gender and age are critical factors in understanding attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI) in education, yet limited research has directly explored their influence on teacher aspirants’ perspectives on AI integration. This study employed random sampling to select 603 respondents from two state-managed institutions. Findings indicate that prospective teachers generally hold neutral attitudes toward AI (M=2.84), reflecting uncertainty about preferring AI over human interaction in routine tasks, consistent with prior research. Male respondents (M=2.91) exhibited significantly more positive attitudes toward AI in education than females, as evidenced by a t value of -2.66 and a p value of 0.008. Additionally, adults (M=2.86) demonstrated significantly higher attitude scores than adolescents (M=2.80), with a t value of -2.05 and a p value of 0.040. These results highlight the role of demographic variables in shaping perceptions of AI in educational contexts, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to address concerns and optimize AI adoption in teacher training programs.