Ben Lyall

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About

Ben Lyall is a forward-thinking researcher at the intersection of qualitative futures studies and emerging technology, with a primary focus on how generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) reshapes human imagination and societal expectations. His most-cited work, "Generative AI and Broken Futures" (2025), offers a pioneering methodological contribution by demonstrating how GenAI can be systematically employed to design speculative futures research materials—such as narrative scenarios—that probe people's lived experiences and cultural imaginaries of what lies ahead. This paper, already garnering 3 citations shortly after publication, marks Lyall as an early adopter and critical voice in the responsible integration of AI into qualitative social research. Beyond this, his broader scholarship interrogates the ethical and epistemological implications of using automated systems to generate visions of tomorrow, challenging researchers to consider how "broken" or biased futures might be inadvertently produced. Lyall’s work is essential reading for students and scholars in futures studies, science and technology studies, and qualitative methodology, offering both a practical toolkit and a cautionary framework for navigating an era where AI increasingly mediates our collective sense of possibility.