Is leadership only a human thing? As organizations increasingly integrate artificial intelligence (AI), questions arise regarding AI’s ability to convey leadership effectively. Building on theories of leadership and AI in organizational behavior, we hypothesized that human-authored and human-delivered speeches would outperform AI-authored and AI-delivered speeches on perceived charisma, indicators of leadership effectiveness, and social perceptions. Using a 2 (human-authored vs. AI-authored) ×2 (human-delivered vs. AI-delivered) experimental factorial design, we tested how participants reacted to a leadership speech announcing a new organizational remote work policy. Results from OLS regression analyses indicate that AI-delivered speeches negatively affected perceived competence (and marginally affected warmth), but did not influence perceived charisma, prototypicality, authenticity, or leader endorsement. AI-authored speeches were rated lower on perceived warmth, competence, and authenticity, partially supporting our hypotheses. These findings suggest that while AI can replicate some leadership qualities in the context of leadership communication, human authorship and delivery remain critical for fostering warmth and authenticity. Organizations should leverage AI for efficiency in routine communication but prioritize human input where human relationships are essential. Future research should explore long-term AI integration in virtual leadership contexts.
