Does GenAI Deplete Us? The Effects of Using GenAI for Writing on Identity and Ego Depletion

GenAI enhances writing tasks by conserving users' cognitive resources, but this convenience may diminish users' connection to the content.Through two experiments, this study explores how reliance on GenAI affects cognitive depletion, identity reflection, prompting behaviors, and attitudes toward created content and GenAI, emphasizing the risk of uncritical trust in AI-generated content due to cognitive fatigue.Study 1 employed a Be-task to deplete cognitive resources, revealing that user involvement in writing enhances perceived identity reflection, which leads to greater persistence in unsolvable tasks and higher credibility and behavioral trust in AI.Study 2, using an email-writing task with greater ecological validity, showed the effect of user involvement on credibility.Practically, these findings suggest that AI interfaces should balance cognitive assistance with fostering user agency.Promoting active user engagement in content creation can improve credibility and trust while mitigating over-reliance on AI.