Agentic education · Learning science

Actionable companion · Self-regulation & metacognition

From AI evidence to responsible practice: Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Directions of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Medical Education: Scoping Review

AI-assisted editorial implementation guide, separate from the original research. Proposed actions are not findings or recommendations attributed to the source authors. No independent peer review of this guide is asserted.

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Evidence and context

Title and abstract screening; stage labels describe reported settings, not verified numerical ages. Design labels require full-text appraisal. Reported stage(s): Age / stage not established. Health-professions education findings do not establish effectiveness in K–12 classrooms.

Original authors’ abstract, reproduced under the linked source license:

Background Generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are increasingly being utilized across various fields, with considerable interest and concern regarding their potential application in medical education. These technologies, such as Chat GPT and Bard, can generate new content and have a wide range of possible applications. Objective This study aimed to synthesize the potential opportunities and limitations of generative AI in medical education. It sought to identify prevalent themes within recent literature regarding potential applications and challenges of generative AI in medical education and use these to guide future areas for exploration. Methods We conducted a scoping review, following the framework by Arksey and O'Malley, of English language articles published from 2022 onward that discussed generative AI in the context of medical education. A literature search was performed using PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases. We screened articles for inclusion, extracted data from relevant studies, and completed a quantitative and qualitative synthesis of the data. Results Thematic analysis revealed diverse potential applications for generative AI in medical education, including self-directed learning, simulation scenarios, and writing assistance. However, the literature also highlighted significant challenges, such as issues with academic integrity, data accuracy, and potential detriments to learning. Based on these themes and the current state of the literature, we propose the following 3 key areas for investigation: developing learners’ skills to evaluate AI critically, rethinking assessment methodology, and studying human-AI interactions. Conclusions The integration of generative AI in medical education presents exciting opportunities, alongside considerable challenges. There is a need to develop new skills and competencies related to AI as well as thoughtful, nuanced approaches to examine the growing use of generative AI in medical education.

What kind of evidence is this?

Supporting AI learning science · Evidence synthesis

Stage: Age / stage not established. Screening labels describe reported context and study-design language. They are not a risk-of-bias rating or proof of effectiveness for an age band.

Study methods · source passage

This study adhered to the standard scoping review framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley [6]. We aimed to answer the primary research question: “What key themes emerge from the recent literature discussing the potential benefits and limitations of generative AI in medical education?” Our goal was to identify themes within recent literature related to potential applications and challenges associated with generative AI in medical education, with the hope of guiding future research. In the context of a state-of-the-art review, our focus was predominantly on literature published following the widespread adoption of generative transformer models such as ChatGPT. Accordingly, we limited our search to articles published from 2022 onward that specifically address generative AI, defined as AI capable of creating original content in multiple forms, including text, audio, images, and computer code. Our protocol is available in Multimedia Appendix 1.

Limitations and uncertainty · source passage

As touched upon in the preceding paragraph, a significant worry cited by numerous authors is the potential threat to academic integrity and the possible misuse of this technology [12,14,15,19,20,22,23,25,40-43]. Many of the prospective advantages of generative AI can also be seen as potential pathways for unethical practices. For instance, generative AI could be used to dishonestly improve performance on examinations or assessments, misrepresent AI-generated text as written by a human, or circumvent traditional learning exercises designed for skill development [12,14,15,19,20,22-25,40-43].

Design the system before the pilot

Use this study to inform a learning mechanism or implementation question. It is not direct evidence that autonomous agents improve learning. Keep the proposed agent behavior separate from what the source actually tested.

  • Use plan–attempt–check–reflect prompts and compare confidence with actual performance. Keep learner choice and reflection visible.
  • Use common rubrics, blind scoring where feasible and a fresh unaided reasoning task. Document permissible assistance and avoid treating AI-detector scores as proof of misconduct.
  • Co-design accommodations with learners and specialists. Check access and error burden across groups without inferring subgroup effectiveness from small or unreported samples.

A 90-day district pilot

  1. Days 1–15 · Appraise. Have the curriculum lead and a teacher read the methods and limitations. Record the study design, sample, comparator, outcomes and evidence gaps. Define a local question that the study can help inform.
  2. Days 16–30 · Design. Treat the paper as background evidence until its population is verified in the full text. Do not assign an age-specific intervention or extend adult results to children. Name an accountable owner and set the baseline, success threshold and budget before implementation.
  3. Days 31–60 · Test. Start with a small voluntary cohort, preserve an accessible non-AI route and require teacher review. Use synthetic or de-identified examples; approve data handling and tool terms through district processes.
  4. Days 61–90 · Decide. Extract the participant ages or education stage, recruitment, task and comparator before selecting a local pilot. If these cannot be established, retain the paper for design discussion rather than age-band efficacy claims. Compare with baseline, document uncertainty and stop or revise if learning worsens, access is unequal or critical errors persist.

The board decision brief

Report the learning problem, evidence quality, participating population, total cost including review time, measured benefit, errors, access differences and remaining uncertainties. Make a dated recommendation to stop, revise or expand. A positive perception survey alone does not establish learning improvement.

Attribution and reuse

Carl Preiksaitis; Christian Rose. Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Directions of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Medical Education: Scoping Review. JMIR Medical Education (2023-10-20). https://doi.org/10.2196/48785

Companion prepared 2026-11-01. Original authorship and DOI are preserved. The abstract is an attributed source extract; the implementation plan is new AI-assisted editorial material, offered under the same CC BY 4.0 license. This guide has not undergone independent peer review.