"Luddite" or "Nirvana"? How AI anxiety shapes career adaptability among knowledge workers
Wenhao Ge
School of Business Administration, Anhui University of Finance and Economics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59429/bam.v8i1.13631
Keywords: AI anxiety; proactive vitality management; career adaptability; sense of control; knowledge workers
Abstract
Artificial intelligence is changing the content, pace, and evaluation criteria of knowledge work. Although AI can augment productivity, it can also intensify uncertainty about skill obsolescence, role replacement, and future employability. This study examines how AI anxiety influences career adaptability among knowledge workers and clarifies the psychological mechanism through which this effect unfolds. Based on trait activation theory, a moderated mediation model is proposed in which proactive vitality management functions as a mediator and sense of control operates as a moderator. Using survey data from 582 knowledge workers employed in firms that had filed AI-related patent applications or reported AI implementation, the study tests curvilinear and interaction effects through hierarchical regression. The results show that AI anxiety has a U-shaped relationship with both proactive vitality management and career adaptability: at lower levels it suppresses adaptive responses, whereas beyond a critical range it begins to stimulate active self-regulation and adaptive renewal. Sense of control positively moderates these relationships by weakening the inhibitory effect of low-to-moderate AI anxiety and strengthening the facilitating effect of higher AI anxiety. Proactive vitality management positively predicts career adaptability and transmits both the direct effect of AI anxiety and the interaction effect between AI anxiety and sense of control. The findings show that AI anxiety is not only a threat signal but can also become a catalyst for career renewal when employees retain psychological agency and actively manage their energy resources.
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