For an Educational Relationship with Generative AI. The Case Study of "Replika" and the "PlantGogh" Project
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6093/2284-0184/13124Keywords:
Generative AI; AI companion; educational relationship; Replika; MidJourneyAbstract
This paper is guided by the theoretical model of pedagogical problematicism and employs the heuristic device of expansion of the field of inquiry (Fabbri & Pironi, 2020) to explore the possibility of situating the educational experience (Fabbri, 2024) beyond the exclusive relationship between educators and learners. This includes incorporating the non-human other within a context marked by the re-ontologizing power of Artificial Intelligence (AI). From this perspective, the paper stresses the urgency for education professionals to rethink the processes of meaning-making within the educational relationship, giving value to the concept of existential communication (Bertin & Contini, 2004).
Based on this framework, two examples of educational relationships between subjects in training and AI are presented: a case study on the interaction between university students and an AI companion (Replika), and an educational project involving children (aged 8-10) and a text-to-image generative AI (MidJourney). The resulting reflections highlight the need to move beyond an anthropocentric view of the educational relationship and to recognize the formative value of the non-human.
The paper argues that this openness can foster the development of empathetic and prosocial skills in learners and calls for the development of an educational practice that is aware of the epistemological and deontological implications associated with the use of AI.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Vitaliano Corbi, Giacomo Astorri
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