Will AI-enabled conversational agents acting as digital employees enhance employee job identity?

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled conversational agents (CAs) increasingly transform online customer service by acting as frontline workers. Understanding employees' attitudes toward these digital colleagues is crucial, as CAs blur the boundaries between human and machine roles. However, existing research often views CAs merely as tools rather than digital employees, neglecting their impact on employees' psychological drivers, such as job identity. This study introduces the perception of CAs as digital employees and develops a Job Identity Enhancement model to examine how human employees' job identity is influenced by their experience working with intelligent CAs. Empirical validation through a survey of frontline service workers reveals that the employees' perceptions of CA autonomy and learning capabilities enhance their job variety and job control, ultimately boosting their job identity and organizational commitment.