Employee appraisal of artificial intelligence and intention to leave : moderation by perceived organisational support via normative commitment

Abstract

Implementing artificial intelligence in the workplace is becoming imperative for organisations to stay competitive. The event of AI introduction can serve as both a stressor due to perceived job insecurity or a challenge when an employee perceives he possesses sufficient resources to cope with the new technology. Employee appraisal of AI is related to his knowledge of the technology, the perception of operational and cognitive capabilities, and adverse outcomes of AI. The formed affective and cognitive appraisal has an association with the employee intention to use organisational AI or leave the company implementing it. The purpose of the study is to employ the model of employee appraisal of AI and understand if moderation by perceived organisational support and commitment to organisation exists. 216 respondents among skilled workers and different levels of management across South African industries have been surveyed. SmartPLS 4.0 algorithm was used for structural equation modelling. The study found the employee appraisal model to have good explanatory and predictive power. In addition, perceived organisational support had a fullmoderation effect on the relationship between the employee attitudes to AI and intention to leave the organisation implementing AI, via mediation of employee normative commitment to organisation. The model also holds true for employees whose companies are in different stages of AI implementation, with the least embeddedness exhibited by those experiencing the uncertainty of the initial stages of AI implementation. The study findings allowed an insight into the factors of AI appraisal by employees and contain some recommendations for managers to prepare for the shift to AI-augmented workplace