Let’s Talk about AI: Talking about AI is Positively Associated with AI Crafting

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly common in organizations, and more and more employees are talking about AI with their coworkers (i.e., AI talk). However, we have limited knowledge of what effects AI talk has on employees’ psychological states and subsequent behaviors. Drawing on self-efficacy theory, we propose that talking about AI is positively associated with AI self-efficacy (i.e., the degree to which individuals think they can successfully complete AI-related tasks), which in turn increases proactive coping behavior to adapt to AI (i.e., AI crafting). Furthermore, we suggest that leader AI-focused attention moderates these positive indirect effects such that these relationships are strengthened when leaders focus more attention on AI (i.e., leader AI-focused attention is high). To test our theoretical model, we conducted an experiment and a multi-wave field study in organizations using AI. This research reveals the effects of AI talk on AI crafting via AI self-efficacy, which expands the existing AI literature and job crafting literature and provides a more comprehensive understanding of AI in the workplace.