Collaborative metaphor workshops helped higher education staff and students make sense of GenAI and raised their awareness of its ethical dimensions¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Participants reported that collective metaphor exploration supported sensemaking, connection with others, and heightened awareness of GenAI and the pervasiveness of metaphors. → Carmen Vallis 2025

Evidence¶

Carmen Vallis 2025¶

Carmen Vallis, Stephanie Wilson, Alison Casey. (2025). Fear and Awe: Making Sense of Generative AI Through Metaphor. Journal of Interactive Media Education. https://doi.org/10.5334/jime.972

q2 · i? · qualitative · r2

Qualitative thematic analysis of artefacts from three co-design workshops with educational support staff (n=15), students (n=3) and academic staff (n=10) at an Australian business school. Participants described metaphor work as a way to "get you started" and one teacher said it had "unlocked some things" to consider.

"This reflexive discussion suggested participants saw the value of metaphors for sensemaking, sharing their lived experiences, facilitating connections with others and raising their awareness of both GenAI and the pervasiveness of metaphors."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Functions metaphors framing GenAI as an efficient tool for routine and creative tasks were the most agreed-upon in the workshops — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Qualities metaphors depicted GenAI as unknowable, unreliable and unbounded, with participants unsettled by its opacity — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Agency metaphors expressed fear that GenAI steals human agency and threatens jobs, reflecting a binary human-versus-machine model — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Role metaphors positioned GenAI as helper, learning partner, and friend/foe, with a high proportion combining friend and foe — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
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