The double-edged sword effect of Employee-AI collaboration on job crafting: a cognitive experiential perspective on work identity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of employee-AI collaboration on job crafting behavior by focusing on the mediating role of identity threat and identity opportunity, and the moderating role of perceived AI competence and perceived human-AI task interdependence. Design/methodology/approach The study used a scenario-based experimental study and questionnaire survey. There were 313 and 380 participants respectively. Findings This study deepens the understanding of employee-AI collaboration and work identity and extends subsequent behavioral responses. The findings also demonstrated the moderating role of perceived AI competence and perceived human-AI task interdependence in enhancing the effects of employee-AI collaboration. Practical implications Organizations can help employees who intend to engage in job crafting but don’t know how to do so by using job crafting intervention strategies to change their work-related knowledge, relationships, tasks, and resources and requirements so that they can gain a sense of meaningfulness in their work and construct a positive work identity. Originality/value This study addresses the unexplored understanding of how employees view the impact of human-AI collaboration on their work identity in terms of threat and opportunity, and offers new directions for research on employee-AI collaboration and job crafting.