Is Artificial Intelligence Threatening Our Self-Continuity?

Abstract

This paper investigates how the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in services may potentially have a negative impact on consumer wellbeing due to the fear of being replaced by AI. Drawing on temporal self-appraisal theory, the study proposes that the fear of being replaced by an AI agent (as opposed to a human) has a negative effect on consumers' psychological wellbeing. The research suggests that this fear negatively affects consumers' perceptions of self-continuity, and that self-continuity perceptions mediate the relationship between fear of AI replacement and psychological wellbeing. Furthermore, the study explores how the type of task intelligence replaced by AI, whether thinking or feeling tasks, moderates the effects of AI on self-continuity and wellbeing. The research highlights the potential negative consequences of AI in services on consumer wellbeing and emphasizes the role of consumers self-continuity in shaping psychological wellbeing. By examining the role of fear of AI replacement and its impact on consumers' self-continuity and wellbeing, this study contributes to the literature on technology and wellbeing. Additionally, it integrates the AI literature with self-continuity research, offering insights into its underlying process. We also draw on the Feeling Economy framework by investigating how fear of replacement affects self-continuity and wellbeing differently based on the type of task (feeling vs. thinking) performed by AI. The findings have practical implications for companies, providing insights into how to manage the use of AI in services.