Trends and Security Challenges of Artificial Intelligence Use in Higher Education: A Systematic Review

The Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly transforming education by providing innovative opportunities for teaching and learning. However, the increasing use of AI is accompanied by significant safety concerns that warrant a thorough examination of the associated risks and the development of strategies to ensure data protection and ethical use. The aim of this paper is to analyze the current state of research on the safe and responsible use of AI in higher education and to highlight the often overlooked security challenges associated with the use of AI to enable effective implementation in higher education. The systematic review includes and critically examines 32 English-language open access articles published between 2019 and 2024 from two leading academic databases, Web of Science and Scopus. The analysis shows that a considerable portion of the studies examined deal with higher education stakeholders, primarily students, and explore their perceptions of AI and its impact on educational practice, with a particular focus on ethical considerations. In addition, a large proportion of the articles relate to development-oriented research that focuses on programming and technological solutions related to cybersecurity. The increasing number of publications on this topic in recent years underlines the need to address unresolved issues in this area.