This dataset documents the systematic grounded theory analysis conducted on students’ open-ended reflections about artificial intelligence, ethics, autonomy, work, misinformation, governance, transparency, and human-AI coexistence. It includes the progression from initial open coding to focused/axial coding and theoretical/selective coding.

The material presents 50 initial open codes derived from student responses, early code families, axial categories, inter-category linkages, thematic clusters, and the resulting core category: Negotiating Ethical Coexistence with AI (NECoAI). The analysis traces how students move from recognizing AI-related risks and power asymmetries, through emotional and cognitive reactions, toward constructive reframing based on conditional trust, human oversight, regulation, transparency, and ethical literacy.

This appendix serves as supplementary qualitative analysis material for the associated study. It documents how students’ concerns and hopes were analytically transformed into conceptual categories and theoretical themes, supporting transparency, traceability, and reproducibility of the qualitative coding process.