How GenAI Transforms Qualitative Data Analysis Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is reshaping qualitative consumer culture research by introducing new efficiencies while raising epistemological tradeoffs across theoretical, embodied, empirical, and historical dimensions. In other words, when consumer culture researchers upload interview transcripts, fieldnotes, or archival materials into large language models (LLMs), what changes is not merely research efficiency. Ep

The contrast between human interpretive work and computational code reflects the tension between qualitative meaning-making and generative AI’s promise of efficiency Generative AI is increasingly used in qualitative research, yet its promise of efficiency raises fundamental questions about interpretation, meaning-making, and the role of the researcher. This article is based on the academic presentation "Interpreting Qualitative Data with AI: Pitfalls and Potential" by Duc Ngu

AI and qualitative research As generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) rapidly transforms the landscape of scientific research, qualitative scholars are confronted with an unprecedented technological challenge: Can this emerging tool—powered by large language models (LLMs)—truly fulfill the humanistic task of qualitative data analysis, which is fundamentally rooted in interpretive work? In their recent publication, Nguyen and Welch (2025) offer a systematic and incisive re