A Systematic Review of Ethical Integration of Generative AI in Higher Education
Open accessAbstract
The rapid expansion of generative AI (GenAI) in higher education offers transformative opportunities but raises complex ethical concerns that demand rigorous examination. The existing literature is dominated by Global North perspectives, with African contexts accounting for only 11.4% of studies and Ghana for only 2.8%, leaving significant gaps in understanding ethical GenAI integration in post-colonial, multilingual and resource-constrained environments. This review synthesises global and African evidence to examine the ethical considerations, stakeholder responses, institutional frameworks, and future research priorities for the responsible use of GenAI in higher education. Guided by the PRISMA framework, this review analysed 246 studies published between 2018 and 2025, using narrative synthesis, thematic analysis, and framework synthesis to integrate the empirical and theoretical contributions. Five ethical domains consistently emerged: academic integrity, privacy and data security, transparency and accountability, equity and access, and AI literacy. These concerns manifest differently across contexts, with African institutions highlighting issues such as Ubuntu-informed ethics, infrastructural constraints, digital sovereignty and epistemic justice. Institutional responses remain uneven, and Ghanaian institutions show limited systematic governance. This review highlights the need for contextualised ethical frameworks, curriculum redesign, authentic assessments, capacity bu…
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Recent scholarship on GenAI in higher and adult education frames the challenge as one of learning design rather than simple adoption, requiring institutions to combine human agency, AI literacy, assessment validity, transparency, privacy, and equity while preserving the developmental work learners are expected to perform.
“Recent scholarship on GenAI in higher and adult education increasingly frames the challenge as one of learning design rather than simple adoption: institutions must combine human agency, AI literacy, assessment validity, transparency, privacy, and equity while preserving the developmental work learners are expected to perform (Yarboi et al., 2026).”
From Between Co-Intelligence and Cognitive Offloading: Educators’ Perspectives from Dutch Academic Medical Settings on Generative AI, Critical Thinking, and Adult Professional Learning (2026) · cites this paper as Yarboi et al., 2026
Recent work on ethical GenAI integration in higher education identifies academic integrity, privacy and data security, transparency and accountability, equity and access, and AI literacy as interdependent governance challenges rather than isolated technical problems.
“Recent work on ethical GenAI integration in higher education similarly identifies academic integrity, privacy and data security, transparency and accountability, equity and access, and AI literacy as interdependent governance challenges rather than isolated technical problems (Yarboi et al., 2026).”
From Between Co-Intelligence and Cognitive Offloading: Educators’ Perspectives from Dutch Academic Medical Settings on Generative AI, Critical Thinking, and Adult Professional Learning (2026) · cites this paper as Yarboi et al., 2026
The process-oriented model of responsible GenAI use is compatible with recent higher-education guidance that frames AI literacy, human agency, transparency, and assessment redesign as mutually dependent elements of ethical integration.
“This is compatible with recent higher-education guidance that frames AI literacy, human agency, transparency, and assessment redesign as mutually dependent elements of ethical integration (Yarboi et al., 2026).”
From Between Co-Intelligence and Cognitive Offloading: Educators’ Perspectives from Dutch Academic Medical Settings on Generative AI, Critical Thinking, and Adult Professional Learning (2026) · cites this paper as Yarboi et al., 2026
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Bruijn, K., & Vlachopoulos, D. (2026) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci16091470
“Recent work on ethical GenAI integration in higher education similarly identifies academic integrity, privacy and data security, trans-parency and accountability, equity and access, and AI literacy as interdependent governance challenges rather than isolated technical problems (Yarboi et al., 2026).”
Pareek, A. (2026) · Iconic research and engineering journals · doi:10.64388/irev10i4-1724282
“Delphi-based studies and systematic reviews have identified key dimensions and stakeholder responsibilities for institutional governance, emphasizing transparency, fairness, and faculty training on equitable assessment design [3] [1].”
- Authors
- Yarboi, P. Y., Adu-Manu, K. S., Amponsah, S., Oheneba-Sakyi, Y., & Barimah, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Ghana (GH)
- Department of Computer Science, University of Ghana, Legon Lg 62, Ghana
- Venue
- Education Sciences
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2026-06-26
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1016
- ISSN
- 2227-7102 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W7166437647
- Cited by
- 1
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1
- FWCI
- 1.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Education Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Artificial Intelligence in Education
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Academic integrity and plagiarism
- Keywords
- generative AI, AI ethics, higher education, African higher education, Ghana, academic integrity, privacy and data security, transparency and accountability, access and equity, AI literacy, Ubuntu ethics, digital sovereignty, epistemic justice, AI governance, responsible AI use, postcolonial context
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