Technostress and trust in AI mediate the association between AI adoption and employee well-being

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology adoption alters organizational workplaces, automating tasks and processes, augmenting decision-making capabilities, and changing employees’ perceptions of work. While past research has demonstrated positive effects of AI on productivity and efficiency in organizations, the impact of AI adoption on employees’ psychological well-being is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the impact of AI adoption on employees’ psychological well-being and identify how technostress and trust in AI mediate this relationship. Based on the Job Demands–Resources model, UTAUT2, and Social Exchange Theory, the study developed and tested a hypothesized conceptual model. A cross-sectional survey sampled 499 information technology employees from AI-enabled organizations located in Hyderabad City, India. All proposed relationships were tested using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and covariance-based structural equation modeling using IBM SPSS 29 and AMOS 28. Results show that AI adoption has a positive impact on employees’ psychological well-being and trust in AI and increases technostress. Technostress negatively impacts employees’ psychological well-being, while trust in AI positively impacts employees’ psychological well-being. Technostress was hypothesized to mediate the relationship between AI adoption and employee well-being negatively. We suggested that technostress as a mediator transmits negative effects of AI adoption through increased technology-related stress. Trust in AI was hypothesized to positively mediate the relationship between AI adoption and employees' well-being by fostering employees' trust toward AI systems positively associated with psychological well-being. Bootstrapping indicated that technostress and trust in AI fully mediate the relationship between AI adoption and employee well-being. The study also examined both negative and positive psychological pathways of how AI adoption can impact employee well-being within one study to provide further insight towards human-centered AI practices and responsible AI governance in organizations.