Work-related mental health and psychological injuries are important issues related to people's livelihood and wellbeing. Currently, digitalization and intelligent technology have an extremely large impact on the workforce. China is actively promoting the deep integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and manufacturing, which may have important implications for the mental health of manufacturing workers. However, existing researches have paid little attention to the influence of AI on the mental wellbeing of workers in China. There is a lack of relevant empirical research, and the findings in existing studies are inconsistent.
Using data from the 2018 China Labor Force Dynamics Survey, this paper studies the impact of AI on the depressive symptoms of manufacturing workers and uses stepwise and bootstrapping methods to test whether overtime work and the work environment exhibit mediating effects. Robustness tests were performed by using alternative measures for the dependent and mediating variables. Finally, the heterogeneity in the impact of AI by skill level and generation was examined.
AI can reduce the psychological depression scores of manufacturing workers by 1.643 points, which indicates that AI promotes workers' mental health. Working overtime is not a mediator between AI and mental health. However, the work environment is a mediator between AI and the mental health of manufacturing workers: it explains 11.509% of workers' mental health. The impact of AI on the mental health of manufacturing workers varies by skill level and generation. AI improves the mental health of low-skilled manufacturing workers by 2.342 points and that of manufacturing workers born before the 1980's by 2.070 points.
The application of AI is conducive to improvements in the mental health of manufacturing workers. Improving the work environment is a powerful way to increase the positive effects of AI on workers' mental health. The impact of AI on the mental health of manufacturing workers varies by skill level and generation. The mental health of low-skilled workers and workers born after 1980 is affected more positively by the adoption of AI.