In relation, not replacement: a reflexive case for generative AI in qualitative research

Purpose This article intervenes in debates that position generative artificial intelligence (AI) as incompatible with reflexive qualitative research. It challenges the assumption that technological mediation undermines meaning-making, arguing instead that mediation is a constitutive condition of reflexivity. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on relational epistemology and human–machine communication, the article develops a conceptual framework that reconceptualizes reflexivity as a relational practice enacted through dialogue, co-presence and mediated interaction. It advances three interlinked concepts: relational practice, partial reparation and reflexive pluralism, while situating their ethical enactment within a framework of situated ethics. Findings The analysis shows that AI-assisted reflexivity can sustain interpretive depth, ethical attentiveness and methodological rigor when practiced transparently and contextually. Rather than displacing human interpretation, generative AI reconfigures the dialogic conditions through which reflexivity is enacted, introducing productive friction that sharpens analytic judgment. Research limitations/implications As a conceptual viewpoint, the article does not provide empirical validation. Future research should examine co-reflexive human–AI workflows through applied, participatory or comparative qualitative designs. Practical implications The framework encourages researchers to document AI-mediated interactions, maintain reflexive audit trails, and embed transparency and accountability into qualitative workflows. Social implications By situating AI within the interpretive ecology rather than outside it, the article advances epistemic, cognitive and linguistic justice, particularly for scholars working under conditions of structural constraint, including those in the Global South and neurodivergent researchers. Originality/value The article offers a theoretical synthesis linking reflexivity, generative AI, and communication ethics. It reframes qualitative inquiry under technological mediation by integrating relational practice, partial reparation and reflexive pluralism within a broader commitment to situated ethics.