As artificial intelligence (AI) exhibits distinct advantages in cognitive and creative projects, managers are progressively expecting employees to increase their creative productivity by integrating AI into their work. However, several scholars indicate that dependence on AI could adversely affect employee creativity due to heightened insecurity and information biases. To figure out these controversies, this study investigated the double-edged sword effect of dependence on AI on employees’ creativity based on the job demand-resource model. Our mixed methods reveal that employee dependence on AI has a positive indirect effect on their creativity via creative process engagement, while the indirect effect is stronger when employee cognitive flexibility is higher than lower. However, the same dependence on AI has a negative indirect effect on employees’ creativity via information overload when cognitive flexibility is low. These findings have several theoretical and managerial implications related to AI-creativity research and practice.
