How has the use of Artificial Intelligence impacted auditing procedures in large companies?

Abstract

Technological innovations have developed wildly in recent decades, and humans have enjoyed more and more facilities and benefits that these technologies have provided. Artificial Intelligence, something that would never have been imagined in the past, today can imitate human actions and behaviour, allowing time-saving in tasks considered more routine and repetitive. Therefore, this research focused on understanding how the use of Artificial Intelligence has impacted the routine of auditors in large companies. The methodology that was best applied in obtaining information was the interpretivist, as it has an inductive approach that focuses on the context in which a situation takes place. Thus, five qualitative interviews were carried out with audit professionals to better understand from the point of view of those who experience the use of AI daily. The purpose of the research was to identify the effects of using AI for the audit profession, showing, in addition to the benefits, negative points that this immersion can entail. Thus, it can be concluded that the auditor has good expectations regarding the technologies used. Through the benefits mainly of time-saving, the auditor can focus more on the analytical part of the projects, which enables greater credibility and reliability in the results. Another factor that supports this idea is that, in general, the interviewees see the need to keep up to date with the functionalities of these technologies and intend to continue studying and evolving in the profession. However, the research detected concern from some participants that some professionals tend to be overreliant towards technology and end up not bothering to do their validation work correctly. Therefore, it can be concluded that Artificial intelligence has been fundamental as a support tool for auditors thus giving companies a competitive advantage. Professionals also do not see this immersion as a threat to the extinction of the profession they see it as a facilitator so that they can focus on other activities.