Abstract / Summary
Background—Interviews are a fundamental method of qualitative research, yet the opportunity to train interviewers may be limited by time and costs. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have created new possibilities for generating realistic interview simulations that may support training and skills development for researchers.Purpose—To explore the feasibility of using a Large Language Model (LLM) to simulate qualitative interview responses and describe the strengths and weaknesses of AI-generated interactions as a training tool for researchers.Methods— Using clinical case studies from caregivers of autistic children, we created a series of AI-generated interview simulations. Research assistants engaged with simulations in both English and Spanish to evaluate the model’s capacity for multilingual responses to a qualitative interview guide. We present a summary of the responses’ thematic relevance, coherence, and conversational authenticity. A focus was given to the model’s ability to maintain consistency across languages while reflecting the experiences represented in the source data.Results—AI-generated simulations demonstrated the ability to produce coherent, contextually relevant responses in both English and Spanish, suggesting potential training opportunities in multilingual qualitative research studies. Conclusions / Implications for Practice—The findings indicate that AI may support researchers working with linguistically diverse populations by providing accessible opportunities to practice interviewing across languages. Additionally, our team found the simulations especially useful for familiarization with the interview format, question flow, and overall process of conducting qualitative interviews. However, simulations lacked several features characteristic of authentic human interaction, including spontaneity, silence, vocal fillers, and nuanced emotional expression. Despite these limitations, we conclude that AI-generated interview simulations have considerable potential as a supplemental tool for qualitative research training and cross-cultural research applications.