Cited by 265Artificial Intelligence in EducationIntelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive LearningArtificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 62 of the 65 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 46 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Systematic Review of Artificial Intelligence in Education: Trends, Benefits, and Challenges

Open access
Garzón, Juan, Patiño, Eddy, Marulanda, Camilo·2025·Multimodal Technologies and Interaction

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how we teach and learn, generating excitement and concern about its potential to transform education. To contribute to the debate, this systematic literature review examines current research trends (publication year, country of study, publication journal, education level, education field, and AI type), as well as the benefits and challenges of integrating AI into education. This review analyzed 155 peer-reviewed empirical studies published between 2015 and 2025. The review reveals a significant increase in research activity since 2022, reflecting the impact of generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT. Studies highlight a range of benefits, including enhanced learning outcomes, personalized instruction, and increased student motivation. However, there are challenges to overcome, such as students’ ethical use of AI, teachers’ resistance to using AI systems, and the digital dependency these systems can generate. These findings show AI’s potential to enhance education; however, its success depends on careful implementation and collaboration among educators, researchers, and policymakers to ensure meaningful and equitable outcomes.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This systematic review synthesizes 155 peer-reviewed empirical studies on AI in education, reporting a sharp rise in research since 2022 and especially 2023, alongside benefits such as enhanced learning outcomes, personalized instruction, and motivation. It also identifies persistent challenges including ethical concerns, teacher resistance, and digital dependency, concluding that AI’s success depends on careful, equitable implementation.

Key findings

  • Research activity increased markedly: publication counts rose from 2 studies in 2015 to 35 in 2023 and 54 in 2024, with the paper linking the spike to generative AI tools such as ChatGPT.
  • Most studies focused on higher education (97 studies), followed by secondary education (26), primary education (20), and teachers (12); language learning was the most represented education field (40 studies), followed by ICT (25) and science education (22).
  • Benefits were grouped into 22 types across cognitive, personal, social, and teacher categories; AI was predominantly associated with cognitive and personal gains, especially enhanced learning outcomes, personalized instruction, and increased student motivation.
  • Challenges were grouped into 16 types; the most frequently reported were ethical concerns (23 studies, 14.8%), teacher resistance (19, 12.3%), digital dependence (17, 11.0%), technical difficulties (10, 6.5%), and increased anxiety (9, 5.8%).
  • Studies were conducted in 35 countries, with Asian nations—particularly China and Taiwan—and the United States dominating; Latin America and Africa were relatively absent. The reviewed studies appeared across 37 indexed journals, with *Computers & Education* most prominent.

Methods

  • The review followed PRISMA and Kitchenham and Charters’ three-step process: planning, conducting, and reporting. Searches were run in Web of Science, Scopus, and Taylor & Francis using a defined AI/education/empirical-study search string, completed on 1 July 2025, yielding 3,406 potential studies; backward citation searching added 435.
  • After removing 1,838 duplicates, 2,003 studies were screened by title, abstract, and keywords; 1,432 were excluded, 571 were assessed against inclusion/exclusion criteria, and 155 studies remained for final analysis.
  • Data extraction covered title, authors, year, country, journal, education level, education field, AI type, benefits, and challenges. Thematic analysis used inductive coding in Microsoft Excel, with independent coding by two authors and disagreements resolved by the first author; Cohen’s Kappa was 0.89. Education levels and fields were standardized using ISCED.

Limitations

  • The paper states that grey literature such as conference papers, dissertations, and policy reports was excluded, potentially omitting emerging or context-specific insights; it also states that it does not deeply explore how AI applications align with specific pedagogical models or teaching strategies, nor does it thoroughly examine long-term consequences such as changes in teacher roles, student autonomy, or institutional policies.
  • The paper states that it did not apply a formal framework to assess certainty of evidence; confidence varies by theme, with cognitive and motivational benefits showing moderate to high confidence, while digital overdependence and ethical risks showed lower confidence due to less consistent reporting.
  • Evident from the text: the abstract and methods report 155 studies published between 2015 and 2025, while the conclusion reports 132 empirical studies published between 2015 and 2024, an inconsistency in the reported sample size and date range.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3390/mti9080084

Cites

62 of 62 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

49 Own result · 35 Not checked yet · 29 Own interpretation · 17 Own method · 15 No basis given

Verify all 46 references — free account

Show all 92 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 30
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 31
53 of 53
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Teachers play a central role in mediating the integration of AI into classrooms.

    “Given that teachers play a central role in mediating the integration of AI into classrooms, this gap underlines a critical area for future research.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The release of ChatGPT and subsequent generative AI systems marked a milestone in education, ushering in the post-ChatGPT era.

    “The release of ChatGPT and subsequent similar generative AI systems, such as DeepSeek, Claude, Gemini, and Copilot, has marked a milestone in education, ushering in what might be called the post-ChatGPT era.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Educational systems differ widely in terms of language, infrastructure, curricula, and student needs.

    “Educational systems differ widely in terms of language, infrastructure, curricula, and student needs.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Many AI applications originate within ICT-related fields and are often conducted by technically proficient educators or within computing departments.

    “This trend is not surprising given that many AI applications originate within ICT-related fields and are often conducted by technically proficient educators or within computing departments.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Educators play a central role in mediating the implementation of AI tools.

    “This is notable given the central role of educators in mediating the implementation of AI tools.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Teachers are essential mediators of AI adoption.

    “Given that teachers are essential mediators of AI adoption, more work is needed to empower educators with tools that enhance, not replace, their professional agency and pedagogical expertise.”
6 of 6

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

2 of 2

Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Cole, M., John, V.-S., Scribner, S., and Souberman, E. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, Harvard University Press.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

See all 265

Metadata

Authors
Garzón, J., Patiño, E., & Marulanda, C.
Affiliations
Universidad Católica de Oriente (CO)
Corresponding author
Garzón, Juan
Venue
Multimodal Technologies and Interaction
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2025-08-20
Volume
9
Issue
8
Pages
84
ISSN
2414-4088 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4413401681
Cited by
265
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 238 · 2025: 27
FWCI
40.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Multimodal Technologies and Interaction (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Artificial Intelligence in Education
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive Learning
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Health Informatics › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
Keywords
artificial intelligence in education, generative AI, ChatGPT, personalized instruction, student motivation, learning outcomes, ethical use of AI, digital dependence, research trends, educational equity

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-09, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).

A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-09 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review