Humanizing artificial intelligence: How employee appropriation of technology can improve well-being

Artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly become the hallmark of modern workplaces, largely adopted to enhance efficiency in organizations. While most studies emphasize the potential of AI to enhance employees' technical performance, more recent research has drawn attention to its impact on employee well-being. This study focuses on the latter issue. Building on adaptive structuration theory, it adopts a technology appropriation perspective examining how workers customize the use of AI to meet the demands of their tasks and goals. Such customized use is expected to be positively associated with employees' well-being at work. To analyze these dynamics, a theoretical model is developed that identifies three key psychological determinants of AI appropriation across personality, organizational, and social dimensions. AI appropriation is then examined in relation to two dimensions of employee well-being: social well-being and workplace well-being. Results indicate that innovativeness is the strongest predictor of appropriation and that appropriation is not merely a technical behavior but a process that transforms AI from an external tool into a meaningful element of professional life. This study advances theory by bridging adoption and appropriation research and provides practical guidance aiming to create more human-centered approaches to the use of AI.