AI and narrative revival? The story of working with a Chatbot on the secondary analysis of German-Polish borderland interviews and insights for qualitative sociology on the verge of a socio-technical transformation

The paper examines the use of chatbots for secondary analysis of qualitative interview content, focusing on narrative research. It utilises interviews with leaders from communities along the Polish-German border to explore socio-spatial transformations as test material. AI was used to recode data concerning de/rebordering processes, identifying three ways of narrating the border. The quality of the analysis is further tested by predicting how these narratives might evolve due to influences such as a pandemic and war and by exploring the potential for managing them in upcoming cross-border renewable energy projects. The paper highlights the potential and prerequisites for successful AI-supported analysis but also raises questions about the use of artificial intelligence in achieving qualitative interpretative depth, calling for a deeper discussion within the research community on how to integrate AI effectively. Referring to the tradition of sociological research on knowledge and artificial intelligence, the paper also suggests further studies on the anticipated transformation of research practices in qualitative sociology and outlines key areas for conducting such studies.