The dark side of Gen-AI-assisted clinical work collaboration: work alienation, trait emotional intelligence, and...

Generative artificial intelligence (Gen-AI) is becoming increasingly embedded in clinical work, yet its darker interpersonal and psychological consequences in hospital settings remain underexamined. Drawing on human-AI collaboration research and the strain process within job demands-resources (JD-R) theory, this study investigates whether Gen-AI-assisted clinical work collaboration increases instigated interprofessional incivility among physicians and nurses, whether work alienation mediates this relationship, and whether trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) conditions the alienation-incivility link. A three-wave time-lagged survey design was employed among physicians and nurses at Xiamen University Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital in China. After screening and cross-wave matching, 468 valid matched cases were retained and analyzed using SPSS 27.0, AMOS 24.0, and PROCESS 4.0. Results revealed that Gen-AI-assisted clinical work collaboration was positively associated with instigated interprofessional incivility and work alienation, and work alienation was positively associated with instigated interprofessional incivility. Work alienation partially mediated the relationship between Gen-AI-assisted clinical work collaboration and instigated interprofessional incivility. In addition, the interaction effects of self-emotion appraisal, others' emotion appraisal, use of emotion, regulation of emotion, and overall trait EI on the relationship between work alienation and instigated interprofessional incivility were all significant. However, these effects emerged in the opposite direction from that hypothesized: higher levels of trait EI strengthened rather than weakened the positive relationship between work alienation and instigated interprofessional incivility. This study extends research on the dark side of Gen-AI-assisted work by showing that, in hospital settings, Gen-AI-assisted clinical work collaboration may increase instigated interprofessional incivility both directly and indirectly through work alienation. The findings also suggest that the role of trait EI in technologically mediated healthcare work is more context-dependent and ambivalent than a simple protective-resource interpretation would imply.