Reframing Artificial Intelligence in Art Education: A Systematic Review of Learning, Creativity and Opportunities in Visual Arts
Published online on May 16, 2026
Abstract
["European Journal of Education, Volume 61, Issue 2, June 2026. ", "\nABSTRACT\nThe rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence in Education has significantly reshaped teaching, learning and assessment across mainstream educational domains. However, the integration of AI within Visual Art Education remains comparatively underexplored, fragmented and often positioned at the periphery of dominant educational technology discourses. Addressing this gap, this systematic review critically examines how AI‐driven and digital technologies are conceptualised, implemented and evaluated in visual art education, with particular attention to their implications for creativity, pedagogy and sustainability. Following PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive search was conducted across major academic databases, including Scopus, Web of Science and ERIC, covering peer‐reviewed publications from 2020 to 2025. An initial pool of 685 records was identified, of which 33 studies met the inclusion and quality criteria after rigorous screening and independent review. The findings reveal weak integration between technological innovation, established learning theories and the epistemological foundations of artistic practice. This fragmentation constrains the development of coherent, discipline‐sensitive AI pedagogies in the arts. By situating visual art education within the broader landscape of AI in education research, this review provides a critical synthesis that not only maps current trends but also exposes structural gaps in knowledge production. It calls for more theoretically grounded, context‐sensitive and interdisciplinary approaches to ensure that art education is not marginalised in the evolving AI‐driven educational paradigm.\n"]