Big Data and AI in qualitative political science

The terms Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been used for several years to describe digital tools with great potential for science. This lecture provides insights into the use of such tools in the research field of International Relations (IR). Using the example of a case study on the Chinese elite discourse, the opportunities offered by ChatGPT, Whisper AI (for interview transcription), automated web scraping and coding, among others, will be demonstrated. The lecture invites to discuss empirical and methodological questions arising from the use of such tools in IR research.