How does leadership AI awareness shape employee voice behavior? based on the framework of hindrance and challenge stressors

Background The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is driving transformative changes across various sectors, reshaping organizational management models and altering work dynamics for employees. Objective This study employs the framework of hindrance and challenge stressors to examine the impact of leadership AI awareness on employees’ voice behavior (VB). Methods We analyzed survey data from 487 employees in knowledge-intensive industries across China. Results Leadership AI awareness, under hindering stressors, positively correlates with employees’ job insecurity (JI), which inversely affects their VB; JI acts as a mediator. Conversely, under challenging stressors, leadership AI awareness enhances employees’ intrinsic motivation, which positively correlates with VB. Intrinsic motivation also mediates this relationship. Additionally, AI self-efficacy moderates the influence of leadership AI awareness on employees’ VB. Conclusions This study elucidates a dual-path mechanism through which leadership AI awareness affects employees’ VB and delineates the boundary conditions for this influence. The findings offer managerial insights for stimulating employees’ VB amidst AI integration in the workplace.