Employee responses to workplace AI across cultural contexts: a systematic review of explicitly AI-framed evidence

Abstract

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), generative AI and large language models is reshaping how work is organised and how employees engage with emerging technologies. Yet the role of culture in these responses remains poorly understood and is often inferred from contextual proxies rather than measured directly. This systematic review synthesises empirical journal studies of explicitly AI-framed technologies in workplace and professional settings, with particular attention to directly measured cultural values and culturally situated conditions. Following PRISMA 2020, searches of Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO via EBSCOhost and PubMed identified 910 records. A complete re-screening during revision of an updated title-distinct set of 691 records yielded 13 eligible studies. The evidence base was small, heterogeneous and methodologically uneven. Only four studies directly examined named cultural-value constructs, while the remainder represented culture through national context, organisational culture, professional culture or locally grounded frameworks. Across studies, employee responses ranged from acceptance, trust and optimism to uncertainty, perceived threat, autonomy, professional identity, human–AI collaboration, innovation, job crafting and adaptation. Rather than indicating a consistent cultural effect, the findings suggest that cultural influences are contingent on how culture is operationalised and on the organisational and professional settings in which AI is introduced. Stronger multilevel designs, more direct measurement of cultural values and clearer separation of cultural, national and organisational influences are needed before robust cross-cultural conclusions can be drawn.