Conversational intra-drama: a posthumanist methodology for researching human–AI dialogue

Abstract

The rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has challenged established assumptions about authorship, learning and knowledge production in higher education. Recent research in higher education has focused on AI as a pedagogical tool enhancing student engagement, presenting institutional challenges or raising ethical concerns. However, far less attention has been given to the methodological implications of researching with generative AI. This article experiments with conversational intra-drama as a posthumanist approach to qualitative inquiry. Drawing on posthumanist theory, particularly Barad's concept of intra-action, the study engages ChatGPT in a conversational exchange with the researcher. Rather than treating dialogues as supplementary material, the conversation is positioned as the central site of inquiry. Through a conversational format resembling a semi-structured interview, the human–AI dialogue is analysed diffractively to explore how meaning emerges through entangled interactions between human and non-human participants. A diffractive reading of the conversational exchanges reveals tensions surrounding epistemic authority, academic integrity and the evolving role of AI in higher education. These reflections emerge through the intra-actions between human prompts and algorithmically generated responses, illustrating how knowledge unfolds relationally within human–AI dialogue rather than through fixed analytical conclusions. The article contributes to methodological debates in qualitative research by proposing conversational intra-drama as a posthumanist approach for researching human–AI dialogue. By positioning generative AI as a more-than-human conversational participant, the study invites qualitative researchers to think with non-human actors in the production of knowledge, extending post-qualitative approaches to digitally mediated research environments.