The Psychology of Agentic AI: Autonomy, Identity, and Human–Agent Symbiosis

Éditeurs invités

• Valentina Pitardi, University of Surrey
• Nima Heirati, Henley Business School
• Jochen Wirtz, National University of Singapore
• Chanaka Jayawardhena, University of Surrey

Synthèse

As artificial intelligence advances from generative to agentic systems—capable of autonomous action and decision-making without direct human intervention—research must shift to examine new psychological consequences. Traditional adoption models become insufficient as these technologies develop agency and adaptability, fundamentally altering how people perceive and interact with them. The field needs to move beyond simple replacement-versus-augmentation narratives to explore human-AI symbiosis as genuine peer collaboration.

This special issue seeks theoretical and empirical work bridging consumer psychology foundations like autonomy, identity, and trust with emerging phenomena driven by agentic AI. Research should address how customer experiences, employee roles, and marketplace dynamics transform as AI becomes more autonomous. The issue welcomes diverse methodologies including experiments, ethnography, and real-world organizational data, particularly multidisciplinary work examining psychological impacts on customers, frontline employees, and managers operating within hybrid human-AI teams.

Thèmes proposés

• How does customer psychology change when AI tools transition from passive assistants (copilots) to proactive teammates that execute tasks autonomously?
• What's the persuasive impact of hyper-personalized generated content (e.g., ads, sales emails, service scripts) that is dynamically created for a single customer in real-time? Does this create new forms of algorithmic vulnerability by eroding critical defenses?
• What is the optimal customer control (i.e., what customers can see, change, and override) to support trust without creating cognitive overload? How does repeated delegation affect customers' self-efficacy and decision confidence over time?
• How do customers and employees respond to agents equipped with "large behavioral models" (LBMs) capable of sensing emotions and executing physical tasks with empathy?
• Individual Differences and Contextual Moderators: How do personality traits (e.g., need for cognition, technophobia), cultural background, age, or digital literacy moderate consumers' responses to agentic AI?
• How must branding and persuasion theory adapt when the "buyer" is a rational, utility-maximizing agent rather than a human?
• How do humans manage their own AI agents? What personality, ethical, or brand preference parameters will they set?
• How does the role identity of frontline employees change when they are empowered to train and fine-tune service robots via no-code platforms?
• What are the cognitive and emotional demands on managers who must orchestrate cross-functional agentic teams rather than manage human subordinates? And how do these demands affect their sense of role identity, self-efficacy, and well-being?
• What are the new team structures, workflows, and management challenges for a hybrid Human–AI workforce? What new forms of technostress or role stress arise when your teammate or manager is an algorithm?
• Can agentic AI be designed to proactively nudge customers toward better financial, health, or sustainable choices, acting as a guardian rather than just a servant?
• How can service robots and AI be designed to reduce customer vulnerability? (e.g., as companions for the elderly, as financial literacy AI for low-income customers, as accessibility tools for customers with disabilities).