From experience to narrative: artificial intelligence and digital storytelling in the processes of awareness within education
Paola Pela, Anna Borrasi, Chiara Gentilozzi
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) October 30, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23807109 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Interventions | Mindfulness-based Self-Awareness Workshops Digital Storytelling Generative Artificial Intelligence |
| Key points | Proposes that integrating Mindfulness-based Self-Awareness Workshops, Digital Storytelling, and generative AI in education can support students' identity exploration and critical, reflective, emotionally oriented digital literacy. Argues, from an Embodied Cognitive Science perspective, that digital media and AI should be treated as a symbolic extension of mind and body rather than as technical tools or a way to delegate thinking to machines. |
Abstract
This paper offers a reflection centred on the synergy between Mindfulness-based Self-Awareness Workshops, Digital Storytelling and Generative Artificial Intelligence in contemporary educational contexts. The aim is to investigate the implications for students' individual and collective identity exploration processes and for the development of critical, reflective and emotionally oriented digital literacy. In this context, digital media and AI are not regarded as mere technical tools, nor as a shortcut to delegating thought to machines, but as a symbolic extension of the mind and body (Di Domenico et al., 2025), serving to enhance self-awareness and relational responsibility. The training programme is structured according to the perspective of Embodied Cognitive Science (ECS), recognising that cognition is deeply rooted in the body and influenced by emotional experience. (Gomez Paloma & Damiani, 2021; Varela et al., 1991). Chapter in: Francesco Peluso Cassese (ed.), Algorithmic Heartbeats: Affective Education in the Age of the Fourth Revolution, REN Press – Cares srl, 2026, pp. 87-88. ISBN 979-12-82860-00-0. Volume DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23211262. Section: Generative AI and New Narratives of the Self.