Challenges and Opportunities for Leveraging Generative AI for Sustainability Education: A Critical Review

The integration of generative artificial intelligence (Gen-AI) into sustainability education is justified by its potential to introduce sustainability perspectives through transformative learning. By encouraging individuals to critically reflect and challenge their prior beliefs and assumptions, Gen-AI can deepen their understanding of sustainability concepts and inspire long-term commitment to sustainable practices. While the broader educational potential of Gen-AI has been widely explored, previous research tends to overlook its specific benefits and implications within the context of sustainability education. This paper addresses this gap by exploring both the opportunities and challenges of employing Gen-AI in the context of sustainability education through a critical review of diverse outputs. A thematic analysis of the outputs reveals a complex interplay between the opportunities and challenges. While Gen-AI offers access to information, personalised learning, fosters creativity, and decision-making support, the associated challenges, such as unequal access, overreliance on use, unreliable outputs, and environmental cost, may undermine the opportunities and the broader efforts to foster sustainability. The originality of this paper lies in providing critical insights for institutions, educators, and policymakers seeking to harness generative AI to advance sustainability education, an area pivotal to the pursuit of a just and sustainable future.