Artificial intelligence, extended reality, and emerging AI–XR integrations in medical education

Introduction: Artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality (XR)-including virtual, augmented, and mixed reality-are increasingly adopted in health-professions education. However, the educational impact of AI, XR, and especially their combined use within integrated AI-XR ecosystems remains incompletely characterized. Objective: To synthesize empirical evidence on educational outcomes and implementation considerations for AI-, XR-, and combined AI-XR-based interventions in medical and health-professions education. Methods: Following PRISMA and PICO guidance, we searched three databases (Scopus, PubMed, IEEE Xplore) and screened records using predefined eligibility criteria targeting empirical evaluations in health-professions education. After deduplication (336 records removed) and two-stage screening, 13 studies published between 2019 and 2024 were included. Data were extracted on learner population, clinical domain, AI/XR modality, comparators, outcomes, and implementation factors, and narratively synthesized due to heterogeneity in designs and measures. Results: The 13 included studies involved undergraduate and postgraduate learners in areas such as procedural training, clinical decision-making, and communication skills. Only a minority explicitly integrated AI with XR within the same intervention; most evaluated AI-based or XR-based approaches in isolation. Across this mixed body of work, studies more often than not reported gains in at least one outcome-knowledge or skills performance, task accuracy, procedural time, or learner engagement-relative to conventional instruction, alongside generally high acceptability. Recurrent constraints included costs, technical reliability, usability, faculty readiness, digital literacy, and data privacy and ethics concerns. Conclusions: Current evidence on AI, XR, and emerging AI-XR integrations suggests promising but preliminary benefits for learning and performance. The small number of fully integrated AI-XR interventions and the methodological limitations of many primary studies substantially limit the certainty and generalizability of these findings. Future research should use more rigorous and standardized designs, explicitly compare AI-only, XR-only, and AI-XR hybrid approaches, and be coupled with faculty development, robust technical support, and alignment with competency-based assessment.