Abstract
How Employees Respond to AI Performance Shortfalls: A Within-Person Investigation
Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, Vol.2026(1)
07/2026
DOI: 10.5465/AMPROC.2026.15518abstract
Abstract
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in daily work, prior research has focused primarily on AI adoption and use, offering limited insight into how employees respond when AI fails to meet expectations. Drawing on expectancy violations theory, we examine how employees react when AI performance falls below their expectations. Across three studies, we found that such performance shortfalls elicited both adaptive and maladaptive responses, which in turn exerted beneficial effects on employee performance and detrimental effects on well-being, respectively. We further found that these responses were contingent on employees’ beliefs about their future opportunities. By shifting attention from AI adoption to performance variability, this study advances understanding of human-AI collaboration and offers new insights into employee experiences in AI-integrated workplaces.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- How Employees Respond to AI Performance Shortfalls: A Within-Person Investigation
- Creators
- Wenqing Yu - Zhejiang UniversityYiduo Shao - University of IowaShenjiang Mo - Zhejiang University
- Resource Type
- Abstract
- Publication Details
- Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, Vol.2026(1)
- DOI
- 10.5465/AMPROC.2026.15518abstract
- eISSN
- 2151-6561
- Publisher
- Academy of Management
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 07/2026
- Academic Unit
- Management and Entrepreneurship
- Record Identifier
- 9985213679402771
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