Abstract: Generative artificial intelligence (GAI), as an emerging artificial intelligence technology, has showcased remarkable creativity across diverse domains. However, members of an organization are the main carriers of corporate innovation and creativity. A pivotal question persists in academic circles: Will the integration of GAI technology into the workplace and the promotion of its work suggestions or solutions among organizational members stimulate or stifle their creativity? This question remains largely unexplored, particularly regarding the phenomenon of advice taking from GAI within the realm of organizational management. This study aims to address this significant gap. Initially, grounded in the context of organizational management, we elucidate the connotation and dimensions of advice taking from GAI, addressing the fundamental inquiry: “what constitutes advice taking from GAI?”. Subsequently, we investigate the double-edged sword effects of advice taking from GAI on creativity, examining its effects at both the employee and team levels through the lenses of social cognition and goal orientation. We endeavor to clarify the issue, “what is the relationship between advice taking from GAI and creativity?”. Finally, we synthesize an exploration of the boundary conditions for the effect of advice taking from GAI, seeking to answer: “under what circumstances does advice taking from GAI yield positive outcomes?”
This study makes three contributions. First, we explore the dimensions and measurement of the construct of advice taking from GAI, paving the way for new research directions in advice taking. In the digital era, AI has become a novel source for organizations to acquire unique information and generate personalized recommendations. Conducting in-depth academic research in this area contributes to a better understanding of the effectiveness of advice taking from GAI. Unfortunately, existing studies primarily focus on the immediate effects of GAI on idea generation, neglecting that the application of GAI in organizations is a multi-stage process, rather than a simple tool usage. In response, study 1 introduces a refined framework comprising three stages: advice solicitation, advice evaluation, and advice adoption, highlighting the iterative interaction process between organizational members and GAI. By investigating how organizational members gradually adopt GAI advice and examining the impact of this process on employee creativity, this study broadens the scope of research on the relationship between AI techniques and human creativity. It also underscores the importance of focusing on the iterative processes of screening, evaluating, adjusting, and applying AI advice and the subsequent outcomes.
Second, from the approach of social cognitive and goal orientation, this study investigates the double-edged sword effect of individual/team advice taking from GAI on individual/team creativity and its underlying mechanisms, expanding the research perspective on the advice taking from GAI. A review of the literature reveals that most existing studies on AI adoption focus on its influencing factors and formation mechanisms, with limited discussion on the effects of AI adoption. In the few studies related to GAI and organizational creativity, the primary focus is on the individual-level use of GAI and its related outcomes, without systematically, comprehensively, or multi-levelly exploring the mechanisms through which advice taking from GAI influences creativity. To address this gap, study 2 and study 3, respectively, examine how the differentiated impacts of advice taking from GAI on individuals’ cognitive states and teams’ goal orientations drive divergent outcomes for organizational creativity. Specifically, the double-edged sword effect of advice taking from GAI on creativity is explored. This reveals the complex effect mechanism of GAI in different contexts, particularly the dynamic balance between individuals’ sense of efficacy and dependence on AI, as well as the competing orientations of teams toward learning goals and performance goals.
Third, this study systematically identifies corresponding intervention strategies from multiple organizational levels to enhance the positive effects of advice taking from GAI on creativity while mitigating its negative effects. Existing research on the boundary conditions of AI usage effects primarily focuses on individual-level characteristics, with limited attention to the intervention effects of organizational-level factors. As both the practical bearer of AI application outcomes in the workplace and a critical component of AI governance frameworks, organizations hold significant governance responsibilities. In this context, this study proposes intervention strategies from two perspectives: resource support and feedback mechanisms, to examine the boundary conditions under which advice taking from GAI exerts positive or negative effects on creativity. These findings help clarify the organizational levels at which interventions are needed to influence members’ advice taking from GAI, providing decision-makers with valuable references.

Key words: advice taking from GAI, individual creativity, team creativity, double-edged sword effect, organizational intervention strategy