Digital transformation of social research: Rethinking survey design with an intelligent virtual assistant

Digital transformation is reshaping not only economies and labour markets, but also the ways in which social research is designed and conducted. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), conversational technologies, and speech- and vision-based interfaces are creating new opportunities for more interactive, accessible, and engaging forms of data collection. In this context, Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs) offer a promising example of how research organisations and public institutions can experiment with new digital methods while also confronting questions of usability, trust, transparency, and social acceptance.