인공지능 직무대체 인식이 직무소진에 미치는 영향: 도전평가와 위협평가의 매개효과

The increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the workplace has also raised employees' perception that AI technology may replace their jobs (AI awareness). This perception can create a stressful situation for employees, potentially leading to job burnout. However, since this change brings not only a crisis but also an opportunity, employees may perceive AI as either a threat or a challenge. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory and cognitive appraisal theory, this study aimed to examine whether challenge appraisal and threat appraisal mediate the relationship between AI awareness and job burnout. An online survey was conducted with 381 employees in South Korea who had at least three years of full-time work experience to analyze whether challenge appraisal and threat appraisal mediate the relationship between AI awareness and job burnout. The results showed that the direct relationship between AI awareness and job burnout was not significant; however, the indirect effects through challenge appraisal and threat appraisal were significant. Specifically, the mediating effects of challenge appraisal and threat appraisal operated in opposite directions: AI perception reduced job burnout through challenge appraisal, whereas increased it through threat appraisal. This suggests that in highly uncertain situations, such as AI adoption, how employees perceive the source of the change shapes their psychological responses and levels of job burnout. Based on these findings, this study discusses its implications from the perspective of human resource development, along with its limitations.