The Ethics of Using Artificial Intelligence in Qualitative Research

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other large language models are rapidly infiltrating the world of education and educational research. While these new technological developments raise questions about use and ethics throughout the world of educational research, this is perhaps particularly the case for qualitative methods given the philosophical and structural foundations of its various associated designs. This paper seeks to interrogate the perceived ethics around the use of AI in qualitative research, from the transcription and analysis of data through the drafting of findings. We draw on survey data from qualitative researchers (n=101) collected from April-May 2023. Findings indicate that researchers were more apt to embrace the use of AI for transcription purposes, and to a lesser extent for preliminary coding. Similarly, participants indicated that the use of AI for these purposes would not deter them from recommending the acceptance of a journal article. However, participants were not as accepting of using AI for all coding, generating findings, or for writing journal manuscripts. With the exception of transcription, researchers from R1 universities were less accepting of AI’s use in the research process than researchers from other institutions. Participants identified time savings as the greatest benefit of using AI in their work, but also shared their concern about the loss of the human element in qualitative research. We conclude with implications for using AI in qualitative research.

Ähnliche Arbeiten