Ethics in the Algorithm: Artificial Intelligence and Qualitative Research

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 4:15 pm - Gold 4
  In Roundtable Session: Method in Transition: Ethics, Temporality, and AI in Evolving Qualitative Research Landscapes

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the ethical complexities of AI-assisted qualitative research, moving beyond procedural ethical frameworks. We reconceptualize artificial intelligence (AI) not as a neutral tool, but as an agentic and extractive force entangled in global systems of power, place, and knowledge production. Foregrounding a relational ethics that emphasizes accountability and care across human and more-than-human worlds, we examine five under-theorized areas in the context of AI-assisted qualitative research: ecojustice, structural non-maleficence, deliberative democracy, distributive justice, and relational entanglement. Rather than dissuade AI use, we invite qualitative researchers to critically engage the ethical and axiological dimensions of their evolving relationships with AI.

Authors

• Lorien S. Jordan, University of South Florida

• Jennifer R. Wolgemuth, University of South Florida

• Matthew Weirick Johnson, University of South Florida

• Camryn; T. Collins, University of South Florida - Tampa