Trends of Artificial Intelligence in Special Education and Their Relation to the Sustainable Development Goals: Where Are We Now and Where Are We Heading?

Special education for individuals with, for instance, autism spectrum disorder, dementia, or cognitive challenge, requires various types of support to facilitate the learning process. Assistive technologies provide that support. In this context, Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes a key factor for special education, for instance, in diagnosis and intervention processes, setting of personalized learning environments, and skill developments. This paper conducts a bibliometric analysis contextualized around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and three key research questions about distribution of research on AI in special education in terms of a) publication, b) keywords (e.g., word cloud), and c) targeted SDGs. The results are an early attempt to address the topic that shows an increasing interest and related research, with a need for deeper work. It also shows that AI could facilitate inclusive learning experiences although it must be implemented carefully to avoid any potential harm. Further, the results show that higher education can benefit from the results of this research in various educational levels (e.g., primary and early education). Finally, the analysis stresses the need to interweave special education with other dimensions that are closely related, such as infrastructure, smart cities, learning at the workplace, and SDGs 1 (no poverty), 8 (decent work and economic growth), 9 (industrial, innovation, and infrastructure), and 11 (sustainable cities and communities).

Direct access at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-8638-1_3