Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) Literacy into Physical Education Teacher Education: A Call to Action

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly transforming education, making AI literacy a critical competence for teachers across disciplines. Physical education teacher education (PETE) programs must respond to this shift by preparing future teachers to critically engage with AI. Using the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] (2025) AI literacy framework, this viewpoint paper discusses the conceptual foundations of knowledge, skills, and attitudes and ethics for engaging, creating, managing, and designing with AI in PETE. Opportunities, including aligning with technology standards and expanding pedagogical resources, along with challenges involving disciplinary uncertainty and faculty readiness are addressed. Practical directions call for PETE faculty collaboration and reflection on when and how to integrate AI into existing curriculum, scaffolded AI learning activities, and sustained faculty development across AI literacy dimensions. Empirical data-based research implications consider effective modeling for embedding AI literacy and its longitudinal impact on meaningful AI literacy in teacher preparation.