“Thinking forward” or “dwelling on worry”: How AI awareness affects employee innovative performance via work rumination

Amid the rapid advancement of AI, employees increasingly perceived AI awareness (challenge–hindrance appraisals toward AI awareness) as both an opportunity and a threat, yet its dual effects on innovative performance remain underexplored. Based on the job demands-resources model, this study conducted two experimental studies and a field survey to test our hypothesized model. The results show that (1) challenge appraisal toward AI awareness enhances problem-solving pondering but reduces affective rumination, while hindrance appraisal toward AI awareness exerts opposite effects; (2) problem-solving pondering and affective rumination both mediate the positive effect of challenge appraisals and the negative effect of hindrance appraisals toward AI awareness on employee innovative performance; (3) perceived organizational AI readiness positively moderates the effect of challenge appraisal toward AI awareness on problem-solving pondering and mitigates the negative impact of hindrance appraisal toward AI awareness on affective rumination; (4) it also drives a moderated mediation effect. This study offers suggestions for how organizations can achieve dual gains in individual innovation performance and organizational competitiveness in a human–AI collaborative environment. • Challenge and hindrance appraisals toward AI awareness show opposite effects on work rumination. • Problem-solving pondering and affective rumination mediate AI awareness' effects. • Perceived organizational AI readiness strengthens gains and buffers losses from AI awareness. • A dual-pathway model explains how AI awareness shapes employee innovative performance.