Bridging ancient wisdom and cognitive engagement: a comparative study of chatbot-based moral instruction

Convincing learners to engage deeply with complex moral and philosophical concepts remains a major challenge in contemporary learning environments, particularly within increasingly digital educational settings. Although conversational AI offers new possibilities for interactive learning, its potential for supporting ethics education remains underexplored. This study examines the effectiveness of a chatbot-based learning condition compared with a reading condition and a no-intervention control group. Learners’ outcomes were assessed through cognitive tests, self-reported emotional engagement, heart rate variability, and electroencephalographic (EEG) activity. Results showed that both the chatbot and reading conditions improved moral understanding relative to the control group. Emotional engagement was assessed during the chatbot interaction and indicated strong affective involvement among participants. EEG measures suggested increased neural engagement during the instructional conditions, while the reading condition demonstrated higher indices of attentional focus. Both intervention conditions also showed greater physiological engagement than the control group. These findings suggest that conversational AI can serve as a promising interactive tool for supporting moral learning and for facilitating deeper engagement with abstract ethical concepts in contemporary educational contexts.