Generative AI for Requirements Engineering: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract: Context: Requirements engineering (RE) faces mounting challenges in handling increasingly complex software systems. The emergence of generative AI (GenAI) offers new opportunities and challenges in RE. Objective: This systematic literature review aims to analyze and synthesize current research on GenAI applications in RE, focusing on identifying research trends, methodologies, challenges, and future directions. Method: We conducted a comprehensive review of 105 articles published between 2019 and 2024 obtained from major academic databases, using a systematic methodology for paper selection, data extraction, and feature analysis. Results: Analysis revealed the following. (1) While GPT series models dominate current applications by 67.3% of studies, the existing architectures face technical challenges-interpretability (61.9%), reproducibility (52.4%), and controllability (47.6%), which demonstrate strong correlations (>35% co-occurrence). (2) Reproducibility is identified as a major concern by 52.4% of studies, which highlights challenges in achieving consistent results due to the stochastic nature and parameter sensitivity of GenAI. (3) Governance-related issues (e.g., ethics and security) form a distinct cluster of challenges that requires coordinated solutions, yet they are addressed by less than 20% of studies. Conclusions: While GenAI exhibits potential in RE, our findings reveal critical issues: (1) the high correlations among interpretability, reproducibility, and controllability imply the requirement for more specialized architectures that target interdependencies of these attributes. (2) The widespread concern about result consistency and reproducibility demands standardized evaluation frameworks. (3) The emergence of challenges related to interconnected governance demands comprehensive governance structures.