Event Details

Qualitative Research with AI – From Automating the Researcher to Augmenting Collaboration   Professor Henri Schildt, Aalto University and Skimle.com

Qualitative Research with AI – From Automating the Researcher to Augmenting Collaboration

Professor Henri Schildt, Aalto University and Skimle.com

The first part of the talk draws on my ongoing theoretical work to discuss the changes in qualitative research practice created by AI. Large language models promise powerful capabilities for qualitative research, but their implications for theory development remain unclear. Drawing on technology studies and the distinction between AI automation and augmentation, we recast qualitative inquiry as a socio-technical process. Focusing on abductive research, we elaborate AI as a producer of symbolic representations that act as resources for the human team. Data and theory representations generated with AI can help research teams expand, align, and justify their emerging understandings. To specify how AI can augment (rather than automate) qualitative theorizing, we unpack the analytic tasks that constitute abductive theory development. The second part of the talk discusses my experiences from building Skimle.com qualitative analysis platform and its use in interpretative qualitative research.

Bio: Henri Schildt is a professor of strategy at Aalto University and co-founder of Skimle.com, a qualitative analysis platform. His research spans theoretical and empirical domains, including institutional theory, sensemaking, artificial intelligence, and social purpose. He has published qualitative studies in leading management journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, and Organization Studies.