De Paoli, S. (2026). Why we should reject to reject the use of generative artificial intelligence in qualitative analysis: A response to jowsey, braun, clarke, lupton, and fine (2025). Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004261425137. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004261425137
Open Access: doi.org · DOI
This position paper argues against the categorical rejection of generative Artificial Intelligence (genAI) in qualitative analysis, as proposed by Jowsey et al. in their open letter published in Qualitative Inquiry . While their concerns are framed as methodological, the authors’ position largely rests on philosophical assumptions that risk becoming dogma. In this short response I contend that prohibiting genAI on metaphysical grounds negatively impacts debate and innovation in qualitative…
Friese, S., Nguyen-Trung, K., Powell, S., & Morgan, D. L. (2026). Beyond binary positions: Making space for critical and reflexive GenAI integration in qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004261429393. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004261429393
Open Access: doi.org · DOI
We write as qualitative researchers to respond to the open letter opposing the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in reflexive qualitative research (Jowsey et al., 2025a). We believe that rejecting the technology in its entirety risks closing off methodological evolution, misunderstanding current practices, and isolating qualitative research from broader epistemic developments. We therefore advocate for a position grounded in critical engagement, methodological literacy, and…
Gomez-Hernandez, M. (2026). Using generative artificial intelligence images as a qualitative method to research aging-technology futures. Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004251412869. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004251412869
Open Access: doi.org · DOI
This article demonstrates how Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) produces incomplete and relational images, directing our attention and senses to imagine what has been and may become. I argue that qualitative researchers can use GenAI images to investigate futures and foreground participants’ priorities and values. This approach allows participants and researchers to move with images and immerse themselves in possible futures. I show this methodological possibility, positioning this…
Hughes, J., Homan, L., O’Reilly, M., & Hughes, K. (2025). AI voice methodology: Using generative AI in qualitative social research. Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004251401842. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004251401842
Open Access: doi.org · DOI
We introduce “AI Voice,” a qualitative research methodology using collaborative artificial intelligence (AI) image generation to explore sensitive topics with young people. Building upon photovoice traditions, participants collectively create and interpret AI-produced images rather than photographing directly. This disrupts artificial/authentic distinctions, reconceptualizing voice and representation in qualitative methodology. AI-generated images function as “epistemic foils”: their…
Jowsey, T., Braun, V., Clarke, V., Lupton, D., & Fine, M. (2025). We reject the use of generative artificial intelligence for reflexive qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004251401851. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004251401851
Open Access: doi.org · DOI
Four hundred and nineteen experienced qualitative researchers from 32 countries invite readers of Qualitative Inquiry to consider their position on use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) for qualitative research. We hold the position that analytic approaches such as reflexive thematic analysis are human research practices requiring a subjective, positioned, and reflexive researcher and therefore the use of GenAI in such approaches is not methodologically congruent. We additionally…
Lanzeni, D., & Korsmeyer, H. (2026). Can AI dream? The role of ethnographic imagination in researching health care work futures with generative AI. Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004261440831. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004261440831
Open Access: doi.org · DOI
This article explores generative artificial intelligence’s methodological potential in design anthropological futures research, examining how ethnographic imagination extends through speculative artificial intelligence (AI) engagement. Drawing on fieldwork with health care practitioners in regional Australian hospitals, we integrate generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) as both methodological tool and epistemic interlocutor within speculative workshops. Instead of treating AI as a…
Mendoza, K. P. R., & Quilantang, R. F. (2026). In relation, not replacement: A reflexive case for generative AI in qualitative research. Qualitative Research Journal, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1108/qrj-11-2025-0428
Open Access: doi.org · DOI
Purpose This article intervenes in debates that position generative artificial intelligence (AI) as incompatible with reflexive qualitative research. It challenges the assumption that technological mediation undermines meaning-making, arguing instead that mediation is a constitutive condition of reflexivity. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on relational epistemology and human–machine communication, the article develops a conceptual framework that reconceptualizes reflexivity as a relational…
Roulston, K. (2026). What’s the use of qualitative interviews? Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004261459684. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004261459684
Open Access: journals.sagepub.com · DOI
Humans have been asking questions of one another to gain information for centuries. Until recently, the interviewee and interviewer roles were occupied by humans. With the advent of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), human interviewers can now be replaced by artificial intelligence avatars who as autonomous agents can modify their questions and respond to human participants, while Large Language Models can simulate human participants in response to interviewers’ questions. This article…
Vigren, M., & Lozano Paredes, L. (2026). Struggling with the black box: Mapping bias and agency in using generative artificial intelligence in qualitative method development. Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004261434487. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004261434487
Open Access: doi.org · DOI
The emergence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has opened up new possibilities for qualitative research. However, in methodological development, GenAI is often treated as a passive tool rather than as an active actant. This article contributes to the emerging field of GenAI in qualitative research by introducing a structured actor-network theory-driven mapping-as-method protocol designed to systematically identify the sociotechnical entanglements of AI tools before their…
References
De Paoli, S. (2026). Why we should reject to reject the use of generative artificial intelligence in qualitative analysis: A response to jowsey, braun, clarke, lupton, and fine (2025). Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004261425137. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004261425137
Friese, S., Nguyen-Trung, K., Powell, S., & Morgan, D. L. (2026). Beyond binary positions: Making space for critical and reflexive GenAI integration in qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004261429393. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004261429393
Gomez-Hernandez, M. (2026). Using generative artificial intelligence images as a qualitative method to research aging-technology futures. Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004251412869. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004251412869
Hughes, J., Homan, L., O’Reilly, M., & Hughes, K. (2025). AI voice methodology: Using generative AI in qualitative social research. Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004251401842. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004251401842
Jowsey, T., Braun, V., Clarke, V., Lupton, D., & Fine, M. (2025). We reject the use of generative artificial intelligence for reflexive qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004251401851. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004251401851
Lanzeni, D., & Korsmeyer, H. (2026). Can AI dream? The role of ethnographic imagination in researching health care work futures with generative AI. Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004261440831. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004261440831
Mendoza, K. P. R., & Quilantang, R. F. (2026). In relation, not replacement: A reflexive case for generative AI in qualitative research. Qualitative Research Journal, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1108/qrj-11-2025-0428
Roulston, K. (2026). What’s the use of qualitative interviews? Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004261459684. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004261459684
Vigren, M., & Lozano Paredes, L. (2026). Struggling with the black box: Mapping bias and agency in using generative artificial intelligence in qualitative method development. Qualitative Inquiry, Article 10778004261434487. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004261434487