Transforming Teaching and Learning through Artificial Intelligence: A Sustainable Education Perspective

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping educational practice worldwide, raising urgent questions about whether its integration supports or undermines the long-term sustainability of education systems. This paper examines the transformation of teaching and learning through AI from a sustainable education perspective, framed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education). Drawing on a narrative synthesis of peer-reviewed literature and policy documents published between 2014 and 2024, the study identifies five thematic areas where AI intersects with sustainability: personalized learning, teacher augmentation, equity and inclusion, ethics and privacy, and the environmental footprint of educational AI infrastructure. Findings indicate that AI-enabled personalized learning can improve outcomes, but risks widening equity gaps if access and digital literacy are unevenly distributed. AI offers significant potential to augment rather than replace teachers, while demanding robust ethical governance to address bias, privacy and transparency. The environmental cost of large-scale AI deployment remains an under-recognised sustainability dimension. The paper concludes that sustainable AI in education requires coordinated policy, educator agency, AI literacy for all stakeholders, and a commitment to inclusive, transparent and ecologically responsible design.