Effects of Creative Thinking and Cognitive Flexibility on Continuance Intention to Use Generative AI: The Mediating Effect of Perceived Usefulness and the Moderating Effect of AI Ethical Awareness

This study examined the structural relationships among creative thinking, cognitive flexibility, perceived usefulness, and continuance intention to use generative AI among university students, focusing on the mediating effect of perceived usefulness and the moderating effect of AI ethical awareness. Data from 594 university students with experience using generative AI were analyzed using SPSS 29.0 and AMOS 29.0. The results indicated that cognitive flexibility had a significant positive effect on perceived usefulness, whereas creative thinking did not. Perceived usefulness had a significant positive effect on continuance intention and significantly mediated the relationship between cognitive flexibility and continuance intention, while the indirect effect of creative thinking was not significant. AI ethical awareness did not significantly moderate the relationship between perceived usefulness and continuance intention. These results suggest that cognitive flexibility is an important cognitive factor associated with perceived usefulness and that perceived usefulness plays a mediating role in the relationship between cognitive flexibility and continuance intention. The findings underscore the importance of fostering learners’ ability to critically evaluate, adapt, and reconstruct AI-generated information and suggest that AI ethical awareness should be further examined in relation to responsible AI use rather than solely as a moderator of continuance intention.