The Cyborg, the Muse, and the Des[ai]gner: A Generative Praxis for a Symbiotic Future

The incorporation of generative artificial intelligence (AI) poses a significant challenge to qualitative research, potentially relegating researchers to mere “end users” ensnared by the gravitational pull of technological determinism and neoliberal efficiency. This article dismisses instrumental “how-to” guides and promotes a “how-else”: a generative, critical, and innovative praxis. We tackle the philosophical, methodological, and ethical dimensions of this emerging landscape by formulating three interrelated concepts. First, the Everyday Cyborg repositions the researcher as an already entangled, hybrid subject. Second, Multimodal Critical Des[ai]gn (MCD[ai]) offers a methodological framework for “critique through creation.” Third, the Digital Muse frames AI as a “collaborative provocateur” demanding an ethic of “equity and justice by design.” This article employs a performative, dia-ethnographic approach to transition the qualitative researcher from a passive observer to a “critical designer” and “critical futurist.”