Generative AI Adoption and Employee Creativity: The Moderating Role of Personality Traits and the Mediating Role of AI Trust

Abstract

The application of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is viewed as a disruptive innovation that has the potential to empower information processing, idea generation, problem-solving, communication, and innovation at work. Yet, the effect of Generative AI on the improvement of employee creativity might be contingent upon the attitude of the employees towards the AI-enabled technology and their personalities. Hence, this research proposes a theoretical model to examine the effect of Generative AI Adoption on Employee Creativity through mediation of AI Trust and moderation of Personality Traits. The proposed model was empirically tested on 278 employees from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) in Pakistan. Using the TAM framework, Social Cognitive Theory, and creativity theories, the proposed research assumes that those employees who adopt the GenAI are more likely to be creative in case they trust the technology and view it as credible and useful. The moderation role of personality traits is assumed due to the fact that employees differ by their openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Previous studies have shown that Generative Artificial Intelligence makes employees more creative via psychological and cognitive mechanisms. On the other hand, individual characteristics may influence the effect of GenAI on employees, thereby impacting their performance at work. The present study makes an addition to the literature by empirically examining the effect of the use of GenAI, trust in AI, employee creativity, and personality traits on performance in the Pakistani context.