When Human Meets Technology: Unlocking Hybrid Intelligence Role in Breakthrough Innovation Engagement via Self-Extension and Social Intelligence

The advances in the field of Information System (IS) has resulted in increased adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Human Resource Management (HRM) for being valuable to employees and organization. However, extant research revealed that organizations are yet to receive promised benefits, despite investing time, energy and resources as a consequence of the limited role of human resources. Drawing upon socio-technical system (STS) theory, the study formulated moderated mediation model to explicate the mechanism and conditions under which hybrid intelligence (HI) impact breakthrough innovation engagement (BIE). Specifically, the research empirically examines the mediating impact of self-extension (SE) and how social intelligence (SI) moderates the indirect relationship between hybrid intelligence and breakthrough innovation engagement via self-extension. The survey was conducted among 352 employees of Chinese and Pakistani firms using a time-lagged data collection method. The study applied structural equation modeling (SEM) using MPlus 8.3 to test the proposed model. The findings revealed that hybrid intelligence was positively related to breakthrough innovation engagement, and social intelligence partially mediated the relationship. Besides, the study also found that social intelligence positively moderated the relationship between social intelligence and breakthrough innovation engagement, and the indirect effect of hybrid intelligence on breakthrough innovation engagement via self-extension was stronger for employees with a high level of social intelligence. Based on these findings, the study advances the AI scholarship in HRM by empirically testing the impact of hybrid intelligence on breakthrough innovation engagement of employees. It also uncovers how social intelligence can regulate employees' work engagement in the organization via extending one's abilities.