Rethinking Social Science Epistemological Debate in the AI Era: Adaptive Epistemology as New Paradigm Shift

This chapter explores the transformative impact of generative artificial intelligence on social research epistemology, proposing adaptive epistemology as a new framework. Moving beyond traditional paradigms, adaptive epistemology recognizes knowledge as emergent, co-constructed, and situated within socio-technical ecosystems where human and non-human agents share epistemic agency. It challenges fixed methodological boundaries by emphasizing reflexivity, interpretive plurality, and ethical stewardship in digitally mediated inquiry. The chapter discusses how AI reshapes data, questions, and interpretations, fostering novel epistemic practices across fields like computational sociology, education, and public policy. While highlighting risks such as epistemic drift and ontological flattening, it calls for critical engagement and interdisciplinary oversight. Ultimately, adaptive epistemology represents a paradigm shift that embraces the complexity of the post-digital condition and redefines social research as a collaborative, generative process.