A Qualitative Research on the Metaphors and Opinions of Graphic Design Department Students Regarding the Concept of Artificial Intelligence
TL;DR
The students mostly have expressed the concern that artificial intelligence would replace the designer that is themselves, and those with the most metaphors were “Information/Capacity” and “Negative Innovation-Risk/ Danger.”
Abstract
In today’s world, where technology is developing at a dizzying speed, the present study aims to determine the approaches of future graphic designers toward the concept of artificial intelligence. A content analysis on the qualitative research method has been employed. The study group is selected using convenience sampling, a purposive sampling method. A total of 102 students (61 females, 41 males) participated in the research. In order to identify the students’ metaphors regarding the concept of artificial intelligence, they are asked to complete the sentence: “Artificial intelligence is like…., because…,” and a semi-structured interview form has been utilized as a qualitative data collection tool. In this analysis, the collected data are subjected to coding and sorting processes and categorized according to the emerging themes. During this stage, the data collected from participants are examined in detail through a semi-structured metaphor form. The most frequently produced metaphors by the students have been library, brain, and mirror. Female students most frequently have produced the metaphors of brain, mirror, library, and teacher, whereas male students have most frequently produced library, brain, and mirror metaphors. The metaphors obtained are divided into 12 conceptual categories. Among those categories, those with the most metaphors were “Information/Capacity” and “Negative Innovation-Risk/ Danger.” Regarding the positive outcomes that artificial intelligence applications might create in the professional field in the future, 27 students believed it would be a “helper” and 22 students believed it would have a positive impact on the development of the field. As for findings regarding negative outcomes, the students mostly have expressed the concern that artificial intelligence would replace the designer that is themselves. Cite this article as: Kanat, S. (2026). A qualitative research on the metaphors and opinions of graphic design department students regarding the concept of artificial intelligence. HAYEF: Journal of Education, 23, 0023, doi: 10.5152/hayef.2026.26023.