Responsible use of artificial intelligence and the mitigation of corporate greenwashing: The role of executive oversight

Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a critical role in enhancing corporate information transparency and green governance performance. However, AI may also be distorted into a tool for greenwashing through algorithmic manipulation and information distortion. Drawing on panel data of Chinese listed firms from 2012 to 2022, this study constructs a firm-level AI application index through text analysis and systematically examines the impact of AI on corporate greenwashing as well as the moderating role of executive oversight. The results reveal that AI significantly mitigates corporate greenwashing, and this conclusion remains robust after multiple tests including double machine learning. Mechanism analyses show that AI improves corporate information quality by enhancing environmental disclosure, reducing financial information manipulation, and increasing supply chain transparency, thereby mitigating corporate greenwashing. When executives exhibit strong greenwashing tendencies, they may exploit AI to conceal actual ESG performance, which substantially weakens AI's mitigating effect. Effective internal governance and external monitoring can constrain executive behavior and reinforce the effect of AI in curbing greenwashing. By highlighting the importance of executive oversight, this research proposes a dual approach of “technology empowerment plus behavior oversight” as an effective governance pathway. The findings provide new empirical evidence and policy implications for promoting the responsible use of AI and enhancing corporate environmental governance.