Who’s the better mentor? How AI vs human supervisor developmental feedback influences feedback acceptance

Purpose With advancements in machine learning and large language models, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly assuming an autonomous supervisory role in process governance. However, prior research in business process management (BPM) has not sufficiently examined how AI influences employee outcomes in this context. Addressing this critical gap, our study explores when – and why – employees accept developmental feedback from AI supervisors compared to human supervisors. Design/methodology/approach Two experimental studies were carried out. Study 1 was a 2 × 2 scenario-based experiment. Study 2 adopted a quasi-experimental design to augment external validity and generalizability. Findings This study found that for employees with strong beliefs in anthropocentrism, AI developmental feedback decreases their perception of the supervisor’s agency as well as their perception of the supervisor’s experience, ultimately leading to reduced feedback acceptance. Originality/value This study sheds light on the underexplored topic of AI-involved process governance within BPM and reveals the potential drawbacks of AI-generated developmental feedback. Additionally, by incorporating the concept of perceived mind into the mechanism of developmental feedback and feedback acceptance, this study expands the literature on mind perception theory and its operational boundaries.