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Conference Agenda

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 19th Aug 2026, 21:28:46 EET

Daily Overview

Session

04 SES 08 A: Critical Encounters with AI in Qualitative Analysis

Time:

Wednesday, 19/Aug/2026:

17:15 - 18:45

Session Chair: Michelle Proyer

Location: A1 | Main building A | 2 Fl.

cap: 318

Research Workshop

Presentations

04. Inclusive Education
Research Workshop

Critical Encounters with AI in Qualitative Analysis

Lucy Hunt, Michelle Proyer, Sophia Baesch, Emma Shubin

University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Presenting Author: Proyer, Michelle

This Research Workshop invites attendees into a critical, collaborative exploration of the methodological, ethical and epistemological tensions which arise when generative AI enters the qualitative research space. As a team working in inclusive education, we have been experimenting with using Microsoft Copilot to support a Critical Discourse Analysis of autism-related briefings by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (April 2025) and Donald Trump (September 2025). These texts, situated within the Trump administration’s broader discourse on autism, offer a politically charged site for interrogating how language constructs disability, authority and inclusive education.

Our experiment was driven by methodological curiosity: could AI meaningfully support interpretive analysis? What happens when we delegate parts of our analytical labour to a machine trained on probabilistic patterns rather than lived experience, theory or context? What emerged was a series of epistemic ruptures. Despite detailed prompts, Copilot routinely omitted key theoretical framings, such as the medical model of disability, and failed to engage with contradiction, ambiguity and silence. It flattened nuance, misrepresented ideological tensions, and struggled to synthesise commentary meaningfully. These gaps revealed the limits of AI’s capacity to “read” texts critically, and especially when those texts are ideologically saturated and socially situated. In response, we refined our approach by breaking down tasks, embedding theoretical cues and manually editing outputs. This improved coherence but underscored a deeper concern about AI’s tendency to reproduce dominant narratives, erase marginalised voices and bypass the interpretive reflexivity which sits at the heart of qualitative inquiry. Our experience raised urgent questions about authorship, agency and the politics of automation in research.

This Research Workshop is not a demonstration of best practice, but an invitation to think together about the risks, contradictions and possibilities of AI-assisted qualitative research. We will begin by briefly sharing our process and reflections, including examples of AI-generated outputs and the gaps we encountered. From there, we will facilitate a series of interactive exercises and discussions designed to generate collective insights, discomforts and provocations. Together, we will explore questions such as:

What does AI routinely miss in qualitative analysis, and what does that reveal about our own methodological assumptions?
How do we ensure rigour, reflexivity and ethical integrity when using generative tools?
Can AI ever “understand” context, ideology or lived experience, or is its role better framed as scaffolding rather than analysis?
What kinds of qualitative work are most (or least) suited to AI assistance?
How might we teach students to use AI critically?
What does it mean to co-author with a machine, and how do we navigate questions of voice, power and representation?

Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used
We will also invite participants to experiment with live prompting, critique AI outputs and reflect on their own experiences (or hesitations) with AI in research, teaching and supervision. The session will be structured to allow for small-group dialogue, collective note-taking and the emergence of shared themes or provocations.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings
Our hope is that this Research Workshop will forge a writing collective which valorises the outcome of the session through a joint publication, blog series or methodological manifesto. We are particularly interested in capturing the tensions and creative possibilities which arise when qualitative researchers engage critically with generative tools, especially in fields such as inclusive education, where language is never neutral. Rather than aiming for technological mastery, the session dives into methodological vulnerability, critical reflexivity and the politics of knowledge production in an era of automation. Whether you are experimenting with AI, resisting its use or simply curious about its implications, we welcome you to join us in thinking together.
References
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