THE IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LITERACY ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE TOWARD SMES SERVICES SECTOR IN UPPER-UPPER-NORTHERN THAILAND: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF COMPETITIVENESS

บทคัดย่อ

This study examines the indirect influence of artificial intelligence (AI) literacy on business performance of SMEs in the service sector in Upper Northern Thailand, with competitiveness as a mediator variable. The population is SMEs in eight provinces, and the unit of analysis is the business owner or manager. The sample size is 400 firms. The study uses proportionate stratified random sampling by province and simple random sampling within each province. Data are collected by a structured questionnaire in both online and paper formats. All items use a five-point Likert scale. A pilot test with 30 cases shows acceptable reliability, with internal consistency values between 0.731 and 0.796. Data analysis uses descriptive statistics, correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression to test direct and indirect effects. The mediation test shows that competitiveness has a significant mediating role between AI literacy and business performance. The Sobel test is 1.116 with p = 0.032, which supports the mediation hypothesis. Path results also show that AI literacy positively affects competitiveness (β = 0.379), and competitiveness positively affects business performance (β = 0.446). The direct effect of AI literacy on business performance decreases from β = 0.408 to β = 0.239 when competitiveness is included, which indicates partial mediation. This means AI literacy improves business performance both directly and through higher competitiveness. The study recommends that SME support programs and firms should develop practical AI literacy skills and apply them in daily work to strengthen competitiveness and improve performance outcomes.