Generative AI as a Personal Tutor for English Language Learning: A Review of Benefits and Concerns

Abstract

This review article aims to discuss the role of generative artificial intelligence (AI) as a personal tutor, particularly for learning English. Drawing on secondary sources, the article examines the potential of AI tools like Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT) to function as personal tutors in English language learning. To achieve its aim, the article explores various functions of generative AI as a personal tutor. It then outlines key benefits of AI as a personal tutor in the context of English language teaching before briefly discussing three case studies of AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Khanmigo, which can be used as a personal tutor for language learning. The article then turns the discussion into several concerns associated with the use of generative AI as a personal tutor. Key concerns were related to academic dishonesty; false information; biased assessment; a lack of quality feedback and interaction; accessibility issues; psychological and social concerns; challenges concerning identity, diversity, and culture; teachers' and students' lack of preparedness; and AI overuse and overreliance. The article concludes with recommendations for policy, practice, and research. Specifically, it is suggested that teachers and students should experiment with AI tools and make use of AI technology to their advantage.

Received: 30 June 2024 | Revised: 14 March 2025 | Accepted: 6 May 2025

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Author Contribution Statement

Samarnh Pang: Conceptualization, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Engheang Nol: Conceptualization, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Kimkong Heng: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing.