Mapping the Research Landscape of Artificial Intelligence in Design Education: A Systematic Literature Review (2016–2025)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60072/ijeissah.2026.v4i04.007Abstract
This study reviews the research landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) in design education from 2016 to 2025. AI and generative AI tools have recently been taken up widely in design learning, design thinking, creativity training, and visual communication education. Research on AI in design education is still developing, however, and a clear overview of its main trends and research structure is still needed. To address this gap, the study combines a literature review with bibliometric analysis. Publications were retrieved from IEEE Xplore, Web of Science, and Scopus. Following keyword searching, database comparison, duplicate removal, and manual screening of titles, abstracts, and keywords, 137 journal articles were retained for analysis. Co-authorship and keyword co-occurrence analyses were carried out in VOSviewer. The results show that publications on AI in design education rose rapidly after 2022, with especially strong growth in 2024 and 2025. The co-authorship network is still fragmented: there are several small research groups but little collaboration between them. Keyword analysis points to “artificial intelligence,” “design education,” “generative artificial intelligence,” “students,” “teaching,” “creativity,” and “design process” as important themes. The findings suggest that AI in design education has become an emerging research area, although more studies are needed on how AI supports students’ design thinking, creative processes, and visual communication practice in real learning contexts.
Keywords:
Artificial Intelligence, Design Education, Systematic Review, VOSviewerDownloads
References
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