Artificial Intelligence for Inclusion in Educommunication: Progress and Challenges
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62008/ixc/16/01InteliKeywords:
Artificial Intelligence, Disability, Communication, Education, Systematic ReviewAbstract
This systematic review of 113 research papers (1986-2025) analyzes the intersection between artificial intelligence (AI), communication, and education for people with disabilities. It evidences a notable increase in scientific production since 2018, with 70.2% of the studies concentrated in the last three years. The educational field dominates the research, with a predominance of empirical studies and quantitative approaches. Learning, visual and hearing disabilities are the most researched, although 38.1% of the papers address disability in general. Among the purposes, the evaluation of accessible technologies, the development of intelligent systems and educommunicative applications of AI stand out. The findings highlight its potential to remove barriers, personalize learning and foster digital inclusion. However, they highlight the need to address enabling biases and include the community in the design for an ethical and effective implementation of AI.
Metrics
References
ACOSTA-VARGAS, P., SALVADOR-ACOSTA, B., NOVILLO-VILLEGAS, S., SARAN-TIS, D., & SALVADOR-ULLAURI, L. (2024). Generative Artificial Intelligence and Web Accessibility: Towards an Inclusive and Sustainable Future. Emerging Science Journal, 8(4), 1602-1621. https://doi.org/10.28991/ESJ-2024-08-04-021
AHUJA, N.J., DUTT, S., CHOUDHARY, S. LOHMOR, & KUMAR, M. (2022). Intelli-gent Tutoring System in Education for Disabled Learners Using Human–Computer Interaction and Augmented Reality. International Journal of Hu-man–Computer Interaction, 41(3), 1804–1816. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2022.2124359
ALDAKHIL, A.F. (2024). Investigating the impact of an AI-based play activities intervention on the quality of life of school-aged children with ADHD. Re-search in Developmental Disabilities, 154, 104858. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104858
ALI, A.-E.A., MASHHOUR, M., SALAMA, A.S., SHOITAN, R., & SHABAN, H. (2023). Development of an Intelligent Personal Assistant System Based on IoT for People with Disabilities. Sustainability, 15(6), 5166. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065166
APARICIO-GÓMEZ, O.Y., & CORTÉS GALLEGO, M.A. (2024). Desafíos éticos de la Inteligencia Artificial en la personalización del aprendizaje. RIIEP, 17(2), 377-392. https://doi.org/10.15332/25005421.10000
ATHBAH, S.Y. (2024). The challenges of employing robotics in improving so-cial skills among students with autism spectrum disorder from their teach-ers’perspectives. Arts Educa, 39. https://doi.org/10.58262/ArtsEduca.3904
BARBAS-COSLADO, Á. (2012). Educomunicación: desarrollo, enfoques y de-safíos en un mundo interconectado. Foro de Educación, 14, 157-175. https://bit.ly/4kIs08H
BOBER, A., KOSENKO, Y., & KOROL, O. (2024). Development of an interactive website with didactic games to enhance vocabulary in young students with intellectual disabilities. Information Technologies and Learning Tools, 102(4), 39. https://doi.org/10.33407/itlt.v102i4.5711
CHEUNG, T.Y., YE, Z., & CHIU, D.K. (2020). Value chain analysis of information services for visually impaired people: a case study of contemporary techno-logical solutions. Library Hi Tech, 39(2), 625-642. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-08-2020-0185
COUGHLAN, T., & INIESTO, F. (2025). What should I know? Analysing behav-iour and feedback from student use of a virtual assistant to share infor-mation about disabilities. The Internet and Higher Education, 66, 101002. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2025.101002
CURUMSING, M.K., RIVERA-VILLICANA, J., VOULIOTIS, A., BURNS, K., BABAEI, M., PETROVICH, T., … VASA, R. (2024). Talk with Ted: An embodied con-versational agent for caregivers. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 46(2), 186–203. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2024.2302584
DERE, M.D., DERE, R.O., ADESINA, A., & YAURI, A.R. (2023). An end-to-end framework for translation of American sign language to low-resource lan-guages in Nigeria. Scientific African, 21, e01809. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2023.e01809
EL NAGGAR, A., GAAD, E., & INOCENCIO, S.A.M. (2024). Enhancing inclusive education in the UAE: Integrating AI for diverse learning needs. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 147, 104685. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104685
FARIA, D.R., BIRD, J.J., DAQUANA, C., KOBYLARZ, J., & AYROSA, P.P.S. (2020). Towards AI-based interactive game intervention to monitor concentration levels in children with attention deficit. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 10(9), 641–648. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijiet.2020.10.9.1437
FLORES-VIVAR, J. M., & GARCÍA-PEÑALVO, F.J. (2023). La vida algorítmica de la educación: Herramientas y sistemas de inteligencia artificial para el aprendizaje en línea. En G. Bonales-Daimiel & J. Sierra-Sánchez (Eds.), De-safíos y retos de las redes sociales en el ecosistema de la comunicación (pp. 109-121). McGraw-Hill. https://bit.ly/4kIs48r
GARCÍA-CRUZ, J.A., GARCÍA-DÍAZ, B.L., GUEVARA-VALDIVIEZO, Y., ORTEGA-ROJAS, Y.K., PERNALETE-LUGO, J., SAKIBARU-MAURICIO, L.A., & VARGAS CÁRDENAS, C. (2023). Inteligencia artificial en la praxis docente: vínculo entre la tecnología y el proceso de aprendizaje. Editorial Mar Caribe. https://doi.org/10.17613/vqt1-cp64
GOGGIN, G., ELLIS, K., & HAWKINS, W. (2019). Disability at the centre of digital inclusion: assessing a new moment in technology and rights. Communica-tion Research and Practice, 5(3), 290–303. https://doi.org/10.1080/22041451.2019.1641061
HOLMES, W., HUI, Z., MIAO, F., & RONGHUAI, H. (2021). Inteligencia artificial y educación: Guía para las personas a cargo de formular políticas. UNESCO Publishing. https://bit.ly/43ZGtWr
HONG, H., & KIM, Y. (2024) Applying artificial intelligence in career education for students with intellectual disabilities: The effects on career self-efficacy and learning flow. Educ Inf Technol, 29, 25237–25256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-12809-6
HOPCAN, S., POLAT, E., OZTURK, M.E., & OZTURK, L. (2022). Artificial intelli-gence in special education: a systematic review. Interactive Learning Envi-ronments, 31(10), 7335–7353. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2022.2067186
HOWORTH, S.K., MARINO, M.T., FLANAGAN, S., CUBA, M.J., & LEMKE, C. (2024). Integrating emerging technologies to enhance special education teacher preparation. Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learn-ing. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIT-08-2024-0208
JENKS, A., ONUFER, L., & GUBERMAN, D. (2024). Emergent questions of ac-cess: disability and the integration of generative AI in teaching and learn-ing. Higher Education Research & Development, 44(4), 932–945. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2024.2442611
KAPLAN, A., & HAENLEIN, M. (2019). Siri, Siri, in my hand: Who’s the fairest in the land? On the interpretations, illustrations, and implications of artificial intelligence. Business Horizons, 62(1), 15–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2018.08.004
KHASAWNEH, M.A.S. (2024). Teacher Opinions on the Role of Educational Robots in Enhancing Programming Skills among Hearing-Impaired Stu-dents. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Re-search, 23(5), 309-322. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.23.5.16
MADAHANA, M., KHOZA-SHANGASE, K., MOROE, N., MAYOMBO, D., NYAN-DORO, O., & EKORU, J. (2022). A proposed artificial intelligence-based real-time speech-to-text to sign language translator for South African official languages for the COVID-19 era and beyond: In pursuit of solutions for the hearing impaired. South African Journal of Communication Disorders, 69(2), 915. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajcd.v69i2.915
MARINO, M.T., VASQUEZ, E., DIEKER, L., BASHAM, J., & BLACKORBY, J. (2023). The Future of Artificial Intelligence in Special Education Technology. Jour-nal of Special Education Technology, 38(3), 404-416. https://doi.org/10.1177/01626434231165977
MARTÍNEZ, R., PALMA, A., VELÁSQUEZ, A.M. (2020). Revolución tecnológica e inclusión social: Reflexiones sobre desafíos y oportunidades para la política social en América Latina. CEPAL. https://bit.ly/442aPaG
MARTÍNEZ-SANTIAGO, C.J., & NAVAS-BERBEL, A. (2024). La Geo Inteligencia Artificial (GeoAI) como una herramienta de participación e innovación en el aula: el Alcázar Real, un estudio de caso en el espacio urbano de Ciudad Real. ENSAYOS, 39(2), 97-112. http://doi.org/10.18239/ensayos.v39i2.3523
MCNALLY, K., WRIGHT, K., GOLDKIND, L., KATTARI, S.K., & VICTOR, B.G. (2024). Disability Expertise and Large Language Models: A Qualitative Study of Autistic TikTok Creators’ Use of ChatGPT. Social Media+Society, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241279549
MENG, X., & WONG, B.E. (2024). Anxiety sentiment evaluation and coping strategies in English audio-visual smart classroom based on artificial intel-ligence. Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences, 22(2), 9917–9927. https://doi.org/10.57239/PJLSS-2024-22.2.00749
MERA-CASTILLO, D.E. (2023). La influencia de la inteligencia artificial en la personalización del aprendizaje: Perspectivas y desafíos en la educación. Revista Ingenio Global, 2(2), 28–39. https://doi.org/10.62943/rig.v2n2.2023.64
METHLEY, A.M., CAMPBELL, S., CHEW-GRAHAM, C., MCNALLY, R., & CHERAGHI-SOHI, S. (2014). PICO, PICOS and SPIDER: a comparison study of specificity and sensitivity in three search tools for qualitative systematic reviews. BMC Health Services Research, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-014-0579-0
MORANDÍN-AHUERMA, F. (2022). What is Artificial Intelligence? Int. J. Res. Publ. Rev., 3(12), 1947-1951. https://doi.org/10.55248/gengpi.2022.31261
MOROCHO-CEVALLOS, R.A., CARTUCHE-GUALÁN, A.P., TIPAN-LLANOS, A.M., GUEVARA-GUEVARA, A.M., & RÍOS-QUIÑÓNEZ, M.B. (2023). Integración de la Inteligencia Artificial en la Educación. Ciencia Latina Revista Científica Multidisciplinar, 7(6), 2032-2053. https://doi.org/10.37811/cl_rcm.v7i6.8832
NGANJI, J.T., & BRAYSHAW, M. (2017). Disability-aware adaptive and person-alised learning for students with multiple disabilities. International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 34(4), 307–321. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJILT-08-2016-0027
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DE LA SALUD (2020). Disability and health. https://bit.ly/2Xa2AL6
ORMEROD, C., LOTTRIDGE, S., HARRIS, A. E., PATEL, M., VAN-WAMELEN, P., KODESWARAN, B., & YOUNG, M. (2023). Automated Short Answer Scoring Using an Ensemble of Neural Networks and Latent Semantic Analysis Clas-sifiers. Int J Artif Intell Educ33, 467–496. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-022-00294-2
PAGE, M.J., MCKENZIE, J.E., BOSSUYT, P.M., BOUTRON, I., HOFFMANN, T.C., MULROW, C.D., SHAMSEER, L., TETZLAFF, J.M., AKL, E.A., BRENNAN, S.E., CHOU, R., GLANVILLE, J., GRIMSHAW, J.M., HRÓBJARTSSON, A., LALU, M.M., LI, T., LODER, E.W., MAYO-WILSON, E., MCDONALD, S., MCGUIN-NESS, L.A., STEWART, L.A., THOMAS, J., TRICCO, A.C., & WELCH, V.A. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372(71). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
PALLISERA-DÍAZ, M., FULLANA-NOELL, J., ROVIRA, C.P., VILÀ-SUÑÉ, M., & DÍAZ-GAROLERA, G. (2017). Apoyando la participación real de las personas con discapacidad intelectual: una experiencia de investigación inclusiva so-bre vida independiente. Spanish Journal of Disability Studies 5(1), 7-24. https://bit.ly/4n1XN5R
PALMER, Z.B., & OSWAL, S.K. (2024). Constructing Websites with Generative AI Tools: The Accessibility of Their Workflows and Products for Users with Disabilities. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 39(1), 93-114. https://doi.org/10.1177/10506519241280644
PÉREZ-ESTEBAN, M.D., GUTIÉRREZ-ÁNGEL, N., & MERCADER-RUBIO, I. (2024). Los docentes universitarios ante el avance de la Inteligencia Artifi-cial. Nuevos enfoques curriculares. En P. Arranz-Martínez, M.A. Soláns-García, R. Feltrero-Oreja & L.M. Fernández-Martínez (Eds.), Educomuni-cación y transformación social (pp. 135-148). Dykinson. https://bit.ly/45qkquq
PIERRÈS, O., DARVISHY, A., & CHRISTEN, M. (2025). Exploring the role of generative AI in higher education: Semi-structured interviews with stu-dents with disabilities. Education and Information Technologies, 30, 8923–8952. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-13134-8
PRETE, A.L., ANDREINI, P., BONECHI, S., & BIANCHINI, M. (2025). A smart virtual keyboard to improve communication of locked-in patients. Comput-er Standards & Interfaces, 93, 103963. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csi.2024.103963
PUCCI, E., PIRO, L., POSSAGHI, I., MULFARI, D., & MATERA, M. (2024). Co-designing the integration of voice-based conversational AI and web aug-mentation to amplify web inclusivity. Sci Rep, 14, 16162. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-66725-3
ROSERO-CALDERÓN, M., DELGADO, D.M., RUANO, M.A., & CRIOLLO-CASTRO, C.H. (2021). Actitud docente frente a la educación inclusiva de estudiantes con discapacidad intelectual. Revista UNIMAR, 39(1), 96–106. https://doi.org/10.31948/Rev.unimar/unimar39-1-art7
SAHIN, N.T, ABDUS-SABUR R, KESHAV, N.U., LIU. R., SALISBURY, J.P., & VA-HABZADEH, A. (2018). Case Study of a Digital Augmented Reality Interven-tion for Autism in School Classrooms: Associated With Improved Social Communication, Cognition, and Motivation via Educator and Parent As-sessment. Front. Educ. 3(57). https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2018.00057
ŠEF, T., & GAMS, M. (2003). Speaker (GOVOREC): a complete Slovenian text-to speech system. International Journal of Speech Technology, 6, 277-287. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023470304749
SHIVANI, G., GUPTA, M., & BAL-GUPTA, S. (2024). A systematic analysis of AI-empowered educational tools developed in India for disabled people. In-formation Technologies and Learning Tools, 100(2), 199-216. https://doi.org/10.33407/itlt.v100i2.5501
SMITH, R.A., SMITH, E., & PRICE, M.D. (2024). Utilizing Emergent AI Chatbot Technology to Generate Mathematical Writing Models for Elementary Stu-dents with Learning Disabilities. Intervention in School and Clinic, 59(5), 339-346. https://doi.org/10.1177/10534512241233512
STANDEN, P.J., BROWN, D.J., TAHERI, M., GALVEZ-TRIGO, M.J., BOULTON, H., BURTON, A., & HORTAL, E. (2020). An evaluation of an adaptive learning system based on multimodal affect recognition for learners with intellectu-al disabilities. British Journal of Educational Technology, 51(5), 1748-1765. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13010
TORRES-ACURIO, J. (2023). Acceso a material didáctico digital e integración de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación durante el con-finamiento por Covid 19 en estudiantes con discapacidad visual del depar-tamento peruano de Puno. ESPACIOS EN BLANCO. Revista de Educación, 1(34), 243–258. https://doi.org/10.37177/UNICEN/EB34-386
VALLE-ESCOLANO, R. (2023). Inteligencia artificial y derechos de las personas con discapacidad. Revista Española de Discapacidad, 11(1), 7-28. https://bit.ly/4kHvx6Z
VILLALOBOS-LÓPEZ, J.A. (2024). Marco teórico de realidad aumentada, reali-dad virtual e inteligencia artificial: Usos en educación y otras actividades. Emerging trends in education, 6(12), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.19136/etie.a6n12.5695
WATERFIELD, D.A., COLEMAN, O.F., WELKER, N.P., KENNEDY, M.J., MCDON-ALD, S.D., & COOK, B.G. (2025). IEPs in the Age of AI: Examining IEP Goals Written with and Without ChatGPT. Journal of Special Education Technolo-gy, 01626434251324592. http://doi.org/10.1177/01626434251324592
WILSON, S. E., WIGGINS, J. B., WONG, L. N., ULRICH, T. G., CAUSEY, B., PARRA, J., & BLACKORBY, J. (2025). Leveraging Design-Based Research in the De-velopment of a Technology-Based Intervention for Students with Disabili-ties. Journal of Special Education Technology. https://doi.org/10.1177/01626434251317989
YADLIN-SEGAL, A., & OPPENHEIM, Y. (2020). Whose dystopia is it anyway? Deepfakes and social media regulation. Convergence, 27(1), 36-51. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856520923963
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Victoria García-Prieto, Mónica Bonilla-del-Río, Juan C. Figuereo-Benítez (Autor/a)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who submit to this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and ensure the magazine's right to be the first publication of the work as licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoComercial 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of authorship of the work and the initial publication in this magazine, with no commercial purpose.
Authors can establish separate additional agreements for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the magazine (for example, to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
It allows and authors are encouraged to disseminate their work electronically (eg, in institutional repositories or on their own website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as a citation more early and most of the published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
