In the midst of the technology revolution, will artificial intelligence end the function of the financial auditor?

Mohammed Al-Shayazami-Doha

The technological revolution is not expected to slow its encroachment on many jobs in the future, as experts expect millions of these jobs will be replaced by the solutions imposed by artificial intelligence on the horizon of the year 2030.

The accounting profession is not an exception. Rather, it is at the heart of the jobs most affected by artificial intelligence, as long as it withdraws from the human element the tasks of auditing, assessing risks and proposing solutions, and keeps him limited tasks of an advisory nature only.

In a symposium at Qatar University today, Tuesday, titled "The Future of the Accounting and Artificial Intelligence Profession", the founder and president of Talal Abu Ghazaleh International Group highlighted the large area that artificial intelligence technology will occupy in the field of accounting and auditing within the next few years, as the future will force everyone to interact with these A revolution that has not yet defined all of its dimensions, or its role will be canceled.

Abu Ghazaleh believes that the coming years will define the transition of the profession of auditing tasks from the audited person to the audited program (Audit Tech). Compared with the standards.

He stated, in a statement to Al Jazeera Net, that among the functions of the program is to provide suggestions and options to the economic decision maker in order to improve the financial position of institutions, and evaluate the results of their work, expressing his optimism that the period of transition from the audited person to the audited program will not take long.

The future's technology
Artificial intelligence has become one of the main pillars of the technology industry in the present era, and it is known for the ability of digital machines and computers to perform tasks that mimic those of smart beings, such as the ability to think or learn from previous experiences or other processes that require mental processes, as well as It has become the focus of business communities, economic institutions and companies and the opportunities it creates.

Current trends indicate that artificial intelligence will have the greatest impact on the global economy, according to a report by the McKinsey Global Research Institute. Artificial intelligence will boost the global economy by $ 13 trillion by 2030, and German, Japanese, Russian and South Korean companies are competing for excellence in the industry. The minute, along with the struggle of the two great nations, China and the United States.

In the field of accounting, the catalytic aspect of this promising technology remains, its ability to shorten the time spent by auditing firms in examining and analyzing financial data, where artificial intelligence programs will be able to complete all accounting stages for a full year and match them with approved standards, error detection, risk assessment, audit and work Bank reconciliations, preparing reports that serve the institution, and proposing solutions within a few minutes.

It is expected that competition between companies will focus in the future on the most advanced programs that respond to the needs of companies, financial institutions and global accounts offices, and reduce human intervention and the ability to propose practical solutions.

Legitimate concern
Does artificial intelligence replace accountants? A question arises strongly in the midst of this debate, and between confirmation and rejection, observers see that this will not happen in the very near future, and they see what artificial intelligence provides an excellent opportunity for accountants, because it will allow them to focus in providing experiences, and leave the repeated tasks of the robot.

The head of the Qatari Society of Chartered Accountants, Hashem Al-Sayyid, reduced these concerns, and he believed that artificial intelligence will support the work of accountants and contribute to the quality of work and will not replace them, after its employment became inevitable and inevitable.

And he called - in a statement to Al Jazeera Net - the employees of the accounting profession to interact with this technology if they want to continue to compete, to help their clients and provide them with sound and fast solutions that help them face problems and changes.

And at a time when reports and research by major companies and international universities revealed the possibility of many professions disappearing around the world in the next few years, the accounting profession is contained within jobs that may be seized and replaced by artificial intelligence technology in less than twenty years, because it is a routine profession and does not require skills Alia, according to Oxford University research, indicated that the profession of accountants and financial auditors is subject to 95% disappearance.

And a study by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England (ICAEW) entitled "Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Accounting", indicated that artificial intelligence provides opportunities for more fundamental change, as systems are increasingly taking charge of the decision-making tasks that people currently undertake.