Negotiating generative artificial intelligence in animal rights activism: A qualitative study in Türkiye

This phenomenological study examines how animal rights activists in Türkiye understand and engage with generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI). The research is based on semi-structured interviews with seventeen activists and ten months of digital observation. Thematic analysis generated three themes: ethical and value-based compatibility, practical applications in activism, and effectiveness and accessibility. Activists often relied on Gen AI to sustain campaign communication during periods of intensified mobilisation, while continuing to question its ethical compatibility and uneven accessibility. The study conceptualises activists’ engagement with Gen AI as an ongoing negotiation shaped by ethical concerns and practical demands. • Activists continue engaging with generative AI amid ethical tensions. • Anthropocentric defaults in Gen AI outputs conflict with anti -speciesist values. • Time pressure and accessibility sustain routinised Gen AI engagement. • Gen AI supports campaign content production and visual mobilisation. • Engagement unfolds as an ongoing ethical–practical negotiation.