Generative AI as a Partner in a New Epistemic Unit

Using generative AI in qualitative research is not about automating the process. It creates a new epistemic unit for knowledge production, consisting of the researcher(s) and the language model(s). This collaboration aims for synergy, where human and machine interpretations complement each other, potentially leading to new insights and novel forms of interpretation. Source: Lieder & Schäffer (2025), p. 5.