Digital humans and employee co-worker exchanges: effects on job insecurity, job engagement and counterproductive work behavior

Purpose This study examines the effects of introducing a digital human (DH) colleague in the workplace on exchanges between the DH and human employees and between human coworkers. Design/methodology/approach A preliminary exploratory vignette-based experimental study (N = 903) showed that fear is the dominant emotion in determining engagement, counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and job insecurity in such contexts. A second main study using a vignette-based experimental study conducted with 803 employees in the US and UK. Findings The changing social exchanges due to augmentation or replacement by a digital human trigger fear even when the AI offers value in supporting work. This leads to job insecurity, CWB and lower engagement. This relationship is mitigated by adaptability when exchanges with AI are low. Practical implications Our findings will help organizations understand how to frame the introduction of AI-driven digital humans and support employees appropriately to avoid fear and to ensure job engagement and cooperative behaviors. Originality/value It draws on social exchange theory which traditionally considers human–human exchange and looks at how social exchanges, emotions and employee behavior and attitudes are influenced by the DH presence.