The AI-generated voice (AIGV) has been widely applied in the short video industry to facilitate video creation. However, the impact of AIGV on digital consumer engagement (DCE) remains unclear. In light of this, the study investigates the effect of AIGV on DCE by analyzing a panel dataset with observations of 21,541 videos for 3,647 content creators on TikTok. Preliminary results of a series of fixed-effect panel regressions reveal that using AIGV has a significantly negative effect on DCE (5.4% reduction in the number of likes, 5.2% reduction in the number of comments, and 7.4% reduction in the number of shares). Our further analyses show that this negative effect is particularly significant at the rising action stage of short videos. With these findings, this study is expected to have theoretical contributions to the literature on short videos and practical implications about the appropriate usage of AIGV
