Integrating Artificial Intelligence across cultural orientations: A longitudinal examination of creative self-efficacy and employee autonomy

In a world where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly prevalent, a growing discussion persists on how AI integration could affect one's beliefs and degree of control in executing specific tasks. This is especially relevant at the workplace, where psychological and cultural implications of technology integration can significantly influence employee behavior and overall organizational dynamics. In response to this issue, our longitudinal experimental study aims to explore the impact of AI integration and cultural orientation on perceived employee autonomy and creative self-efficacy. We formulated and tested four hypotheses to analyze the relationship between AI integration and employee perceptions within different cultural contexts—specifically individualistic cultures, represented by the United Kingdom, and collectivistic cultures, represented by Mexico. A total of 427 participants from professional sectors participated in this study that alternated tasks with and without AI integration, resulting in an analysis of changes in employee perceptions over time. The empirical findings revealed a positive interactive impact of AI integration on creative self-efficacy, particularly pronounced among participants from collectivistic cultures. Furthermore, reports on employee autonomy revealed a significant negative impact of AI integration in the overall sample. An exploratory gender-specific analysis further revealed significant differences in the impact of AI integration on employee autonomy, with male participants experiencing a more pronounced decrease than female participants. Our findings provide quantitative evidence on how AI integration impacts diverse employee groups, making a significant contribution to the research on ethical and societal considerations in the deployment of AI.