The adoption of generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) in organizational settings calls into question workers' roles, and relatedly, the implications for their long-term skill development and domain expertise. In our qualitative study in the software engineering domain, we build on the theoretical lenses of occupational identity and self-determination theory to understand how and why software engineers make sense of GAI for their work. We find that engineers' sense-making is contingent on domain expertise, as juniors and seniors felt their needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness to be differently impacted by GAI. We shed light on the importance of the individual's role in preserving tacit domain knowledge as engineers engaged in sense-making that protected their occupational identity. We illustrate how organizations play an active role in shaping workers' sense-making process and propose design guidelines on how organizations and system designers can facilitate the impact of technological change on workers' occupational identity.

翻译：在组织环境中采用生成式人工智能（GAI）引发了关于工作者角色的质疑，并进而影响其长期技能发展与领域专业知识。本研究在软件工程领域开展质性研究，基于职业认同与自我决定理论的理论视角，探讨软件工程师如何以及为何将GAI融入其工作认知。研究发现，工程师的认知建构过程受领域专业知识影响，初级与高级工程师对能力需求、自主性及关联性受GAI影响的感知存在差异。研究揭示了在工程师进行职业身份保护的认知建构过程中，个体在保存隐性领域知识方面的重要作用。我们阐释了组织如何主动塑造工作者的认知建构过程，并提出设计指南，以帮助组织与系统设计者促进技术变革对工作者职业认同的积极影响。