Navigating AI Adoption: Examining the Moderating Roles of Teacher Agency and Age in the Relationship Between Social Influence and Teachers' Intentions to Use AI

ABSTRACT Building on the technology acceptance model, this study foregrounds social influence as a contextual driver of teachers' AI adoption and further explores whether teacher agency and age moderate the proposed relationships. Data were obtained from 351 in‐service teachers in China and examined through structural equation modelling. The results show that perceived ease of use was significantly associated with perceived usefulness and attitudes towards AI; attitudes exerted a strong influence on behavioural intention, whereas perceived usefulness did not show a direct association with intention. Social influence emerged as a central factor influencing both teachers' cognitive evaluations and adoption intentions. Moreover, teacher agency and age significantly moderate several relationships in the model. The findings enrich people's understanding of the technology acceptance model in the Chinese educational context and highlight the necessity for teachers and policymakers to consider the contextual and sociocultural factors as well as individual differences when promoting AI in teaching and learning.