Critical and Culturally Conscious Engagement with Generative AI in Qualitative Research

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

As generative artificial intelligence transforms research landscapes, qualitative methodologists face unprecedented opportunities and ethical challenges. In this symposium, we will examine how researchers can critically engage with AI tools while preserving the relational, interpretive, and justice-oriented foundations of qualitative inquiry. Following the conference theme "Unforgetting Histories and Imagining Futures," we will explore how traditional methodologies, Indigenous knowledge systems, and critical frameworks inform ethical AI engagement. During this session, four scholars will present diverse perspectives on decolonizing AI practices, addressing algorithmic bias, preserving human interpretive practices, and developing culturally responsive frameworks. Through interactivity, participants will discursively identify guidelines for ethical AI use that honor community sovereignty, maintain methodological rigor, and advance equity in educational research.

Sub Unit

• Division D - Measurement and Research Methodologies / Division D - Section 3: Qualitative Methodologies

Chairs

• Leia K. Cain, University of Tennessee

• Kakali Bhattacharya, University of Florida

Papers

• Beyond Efficiency: A Triadic Framework for AI-Assisted Qualitative Inquiry Honoring Researcher Sovereignty - Kakali Bhattacharya, University of Florida

• Disrupting AI Mythologies: From Deus Ex Machina to Echosocial Partnerships in Qualitative Research - Leia K. Cain, University of Tennessee

• Technological Reflexivity in Practice: Navigating Generative AI in Qualitative Research - Jessica Nina Lester, Indiana University

• Troubling the Platform: Concerns with AI for QDA - Johnny Saldaña, Arizona State University

Session Organizer

• Leia K. Cain, University of Tennessee

Discussants

• Johnny Saldaña, Arizona State University

• Jessica Nina Lester, Indiana University

• Kakali Bhattacharya, University of Florida

• Leia K. Cain, University of Tennessee