The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Green ESG Performance: The Moderating Role of Human-AI Interaction

This study investigates the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives and Green Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance, with a particular focus on how Human-AI interaction moderates this relationship. Likewise, using panel data of Chinese listed firms from 2018 to 2022, we analyze 3,900 firm-year observations obtained from Wind and CSMAR databases. Our findings reveal a significant positive association between CSR engagement and Green ESG performance. More importantly, we find that Human-AI interaction significantly enhances this relationship, suggesting that firms leveraging AI technologies in their CSR implementation achieve superior Green ESG outcomes. Additional analyses reveal that this moderating effect is more pronounced in industries with higher pollution intensity and for firms with greater institutional ownership. This research contributes to the literature by identifying an important technological moderator in the CSR-ESG relationship and provides practical implications for corporate sustainability strategies in the digital era.