Thinking towards the Future: Reflections on Engaging with AI for Visual Data Presentation in Qualitative Research

This article reports our experience of exploring the use of ChatGPT to artistically present a segment of qualitative data in a visual form for one of our previous studies. We recounted our engagement with ChatGPT and reflected on our emotions and thoughts throughout the interactive process with this AI-powered tool for image generation. Our narrative analysis highlights the agency of ChatGPT as an active contributor to the creative endeavor and emphasizes our critical role as researchers in interpreting the data and in critically evaluating AI-generated images within the context of our research. The paper suggests that AI-text-to-image function can potentially enhance researchers’ engagement with qualitative data and empower the researchers to (re)present data in novel ways. Through a critical reflection of human-AI collaboration and researchers' collaboration with the involvement of AI, we discuss how utilizing AI as an arts-creation tool in arts-based methodology will possibly empower researchers to engage with visualization of qualitative data and add a complex, nuanced layer to the data analysis process.