Empathetic creativity as a ‘shield’: A dual-path study of the impact of artificial intelligence usage on employee work outcomes

Currently, artificial intelligence is being rapidly deployed in frontline services, collaborating with employees in an increasing number of tasks. While this brings many benefits, it is also encroaching on the “skill toolbox†of frontline employees, subjecting them to mounting technological pressure. As a result, identifying key skills that are compatible with intelligent machines and helping employees cope with the challenges posed by AI, has become a focal point in academic research. However, the specific skills and mechanisms through which employees can adapt to this transformation remain unclear. This study combines the transactional model of stress and complementarity theory to explore the role of empathetic creativity as a key skill in this process. Through a two-wave survey and a semi-structured interview, the study finds that when employees have high empathetic creativity, the use of AI enhances their positive affective work prospection, thereby increasing their work effort. However, when employees have low empathetic creativity, AI may induce negative affective work prospection, leading to time theft behavior at work. This study highlights the important role of empathetic creativity in helping service industry employees cope with the challenges of AI, providing valuable practical insights for companies in shaping competitive advantages and employee training.