The personalization of learning is one of the great promises of artificial intelligence in distance education, and this article addresses precisely that issue through a systematic literature review.
The work by Rosa Romero Alonso, Katherine Araya Carvajal, and Natalia Reyes Acevedo analyzes 65 studies published between 2018 and 2023 to identify how AI is being used in virtual environments to adapt resources, learning paths, academic support, and feedback to the needs of each student.
The review shows that AI is mainly being applied in intelligent tutoring systems, predictive models of academic success, adaptive recommendation systems, and support tools for students with special educational needs.
These uses make it possible to anticipate difficulties, provide better guidance and support, adjust materials, and promote more flexible learning experiences. The article also highlights that these experiences are especially concentrated in higher education and STEM disciplines, although their potential can extend to different educational levels and fields of knowledge.
The main value of the study lies in offering a balanced perspective: AI can improve motivation, participation, and performance in virtual education, but its implementation requires pedagogical and ethical caution.
Personalization cannot be reduced to a technical matter based on data and algorithms. It must be guided by clear educational criteria, privacy protection, transparency in the use of information, and reflection on the role of teachers. In this sense, the article invites us to view AI not as a replacement for teaching, but as a tool for designing more inclusive, adaptive, and student-centered virtual environments.
---
How to Cite: Romero Alonso, R., Araya Carvajal, K., & Reyes Acevedo, N. (2025). Role of Artificial Intelligence in the personalization of distance education: a systematic review. RIED-Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 28(1), 9–36. https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.28.1.41538
