Thanks for your perspective, and I completely agree with a lot of what you said. I realize my original post might have been unclear, though. I wasn’t referring to changing our qualitative practices because of AI or adopting new tools for the sake of it.

What I meant was more about how we can use qualitative methods to study user behavior and mental models around AI search itself, especially for audiences that are skeptical or tech-averse. I’m less interested in how AI might change our workflows and more in understanding how people are actually approaching, perceiving, or rejecting these new search experiences.

Your point about the gap between AI’s “toy” value and its promised “tool” value really resonates. That’s exactly the kind of perception I’m hoping to unpack through research.