A Systematic Review of the Educational Implications ofArtificial Intelligence: Benefits and Challenges Post -Covid-19Pandemic

Abstract

The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into academic environments has accelerated significantly in the post-COVID-19 era. This study presents a systematic literature review (SLR) evaluating the reported pedagogical benefits and structural challenges of AI applications in education. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework guidelines, a comprehensive search was executed across major academic databases, targeting peer-reviewed empirical literature published between 2021 and 2026. Applying strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, a final analytical sample of twenty (N = 20) international studies was synthesized. The thematic analysis demonstrates that while AI tools offer significant educational benefits — such as learning personalization, enhanced language acquisition, and the automation of administrative workloads — they present critical pedagogical and ethical challenges. These risks focus heavily on cognitive disengagement, diminished student critical thinking, and algorithmic data privacy vulnerabilities. This review highlights that the successful deployment of AI relies on balancing technological integration with robust ethical frameworks while preserving the central instructional responsibility of human educators.