Teachers' role in fostering digital trust and mediating ethical engagement with artificial intelligence : a literature review

Abstract

The rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education has intensified questions about how students develop informed and responsible relationships with algorithmic systems. While existing research has largely focused on teachers as adopters or users of AI technologies, far less attention has been given to teachers’ role in guiding students’ engagement with these systems. This literature review examines how teachers contribute to the development of digital trust in AI-mediated learning environments. Digital trust is conceptualised as the capacity to make informed, critical, and context-sensitive judgements about when and how AI systems should be relied upon. The review synthesises research across three interconnected areas: conceptualisations of digital trust, teachers’ mediating practices in AI-supported learning, and the factors shaping teachers’ own trust in AI technologies. It further examines systemic constraints on teachers’ capacity to perform this mediating role, including gaps in professional preparation and governance frameworks. The Maltese educational context is analysed as a case study illustrating how policy ambition, curriculum reform, and teacher capacity-building interact in practice. The article argues that preparing young people for AI-saturated knowledge environments requires recognising teachers as central mediators of digital trust rather than merely users of educational technologies.