Can Virtual Worlds be used as Intelligent Tutoring Systems to innovate teaching and learning methods? Future challenges for Metaverse and Artificial Intelligence in education.

The continuous evolution of digital technologies enriches the panorama of possible opportunities that digital transformation offers to the advantage of the educational system in reference to new ecological systems and sustainable teaching methodologies for the benefit of increasingly interactive, personalized and effective learning.

Among the different types of interactive learning environments, there is a growing expanse of literature on virtual worlds as risk-free educational contexts capable of enhancing today's critical life skills such as critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration, of increasing new digital skills and of supporting students in their learning process.

At the same time, we are witnessing an increase in the use of Artificial Intelligence in education and, in particular, among the Adaptive Learning Systems, Intelligent Tutoring Systems are configured as valid solutions to support students in an increasingly personalized and student-centered learning process.

Based on recent studies in the literature on the use of virtual worlds in the processes that accompany students in effective learning and that offer collaborative learning spaces in which to co-construct knowledge, this paper aims to point out the characteristics of virtual worlds, through the analysis of recent case studies, and those of Intelligent Tutoring Systems in order to outline similarities between the two learning systems, defining the possible future challenges that affect the combined use of the Metaverse and Artificial Intelligence in education.