102 T. A. R. Dalwai et al.

7.1 Introduction

The role of an auditor and audit process is evolving through breakthrough innovation
in artificial intelligence (AI), big data, data analytics, and workflow automation.
These developments are eliminating tedious and labor-intensive manual process in
audit, and enabling auditors to powerful insights. The innovative technologies are
supporting in enhancing audit quality for the various stakeholders which involve the
clients, auditors, investors, and capital markets (Raphael 2017). Tiberius and Hirth
(2019) surveyed German auditing professionals for the expected auditing practices in
the wake of technological developments. This study concluded that new technologies
would not replace auditors but would provide relief and support in the auditing
process. Additionally, the annual audit was expected to revolve around a continuous
audit approach.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is characterized as digital intelligence or intelligence of
the technological advances, which resembles intellectual functions. It encompasses
a range of interlinked innovations including data processing, deep learning, voice
recognition, image recognition, and an interpretation of emotions. AI consists of two
components i.e., Artificial and Intelligence. Artificial that is formed by humans and
intelligence is the ability to interpret, motives etc. The behavior of AI can be coded
as an automated system that enables a user to replicate, create, or illustrate human
consciousness.
The accelerated digitalization is posing significant challenges to every industry
and auditing firms are expected to also experience an impact. In the wake of these
challenges, firms would have to use their foresight to enable early warnings, improve
long-term planning, innovation process and decision making, and be agile to envi-
ronmental changes (Iden et al. 2017). The firms also need to think ahead in devel-
oping competitive advantage (Anderson 1997) and overall profitability (Rohrbeck
and Kum 2018; Alareeni 2019a; Alsuwaigh et al. 2020; Alzaneen and Mahmoud
2019) by forecasting the impact of digitization in auditing (Alareeni 2019b).
Machine learning, which is a key subset of AI, has demonstrated a significant
impact on the way audits are performed. Auditors are able to avoid the tradeoff
between speed and quality with the implementation of machine learning in the profes-
sion (Raphael 2017). While new advancement in technology has had an immediate
impact on the elimination of manual and routine tasks, there is still a little appetite
for a human free audit. Automation in audit supports in reducing errors and spotting
patterns, thereby the role of an auditor as an independent challenging voice with skills
of communication, empathy, and persuasion continue to remain secure (McGhee and
Grant 2019).
Figure 7.1 describes the advantages artificial intelligence has brought to the
auditing field. It is crucial to note that mundane and repetitive tasks are managed
by the AI systems whereas the accountants and auditors can focus more on the core
business and decision-making. AI has changed the focus of these professionals to an
interpretive mode thereby requiring a new set of skills that can harness the benefits
brought about by the new technology.
7 An Investigation of Artificial Intelligence … 103

Fig. 7.1 Role of artificial intelligence in accounting and auditing. Source Interpretation from Govil
(2020)

This chapter aims to provide an insight into the impact of artificial intelligence
on auditing education and profession. It also investigates the ethical implications
and risks associated with AI before implementation into the auditing profession.
To address these objectives, this chapter provides a detailed literature review on AI
aspects already established for the auditing field.
This chapter is organized to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on auditing
education. This is followed by an insight into how artificial intelligence is having an
impact on the auditing profession. Section 7.2.3 discusses the ethical implications of
artificial intelligence on auditing. Section 7.2.4 presents the risks related to artificial
intelligence. The final chapter provides the overall conclusion in terms of the findings
made from the literature review and the progress of AI in auditing.

7.2 Literature Review

7.2.1 Artificial Intelligence and Auditing Education

The field of Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) is innovative and derivative.

It contains related methodological approaches such as AI, cognitive science, and
education. AIED essentially comprises of two main complementary elements: the
development of AI-based learning tools and their use to understand learning. AI is
rising rapidly in the educational sense that is expected to become a market value of
approximately 6 billion dollars by the year 2024 (Bhutani and Wadhwani 2020).
104 T. A. R. Dalwai et al.

In particular, students primarily focus on accounting courses, to develop their

knowledge and skills in accounting, auditing, and technology. Preparedness and
acceptance by students in emerging technology disciplines are thus primarily influ-
enced by the effectiveness of accounting curricula in providing educational skills in
these areas. While ongoing development and application of cognitive machine tech-
nology are unavoidable in accounting and auditing, academic research is inadequate
that examines the impact of AI on higher education in accounting and the future of
accounting technology (Siau 2017). On the other hand, numerous researches have
investigated the AI effect on accounting and auditing (Kokina and Davenport 2017).
An efficient expert system provides numerous benefits when applied to audit,
including the automatic understanding of audit task operations and increased trans-
ferability of knowledge (Omoteso 2012; Lombardi and Dull 2016). Universities
and colleges must establish strong relationships with professionals in the field so
that students can access valuable opportunities (Maginnis and Wagaman 2019).
Improving education in accounting and auditing is important to give students with a
better possible understanding of job opportunities and gain experiences.
Based on emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, the accountants
will continue to succeed and develop through more specialized consulting services
and helps client integration with Artificial Intelligence and customer awareness
instead of being solely concentrated on measuring financial data (Ovaska-Few 2017).
Training and retraining are required in some cases.
A financial audit involves stressful, labor-intensive analysis into the financial
statements and its business. The audit objective is to gather evidence that allows the
auditor to express an opinion as to whether, in all significant respects, the financial
statements represent the company appropriately. Throughout the audit process, the
use of AI technology strengthens the audit profession but does not replace it. AI
increases the efficiency, efficacy, and accuracy of audits. The experts in accounting
and auditing will study and be thought leaders, transferring specialized expertise to
senior management. Furthermore, ensure that businesses embrace AI, that offers the
best customer services to clients.
AI’s assistance in research and testing provides auditors with more time to analyze
the factors behind AI’s trends and anomalies. AI will accomplish various repetitive
tasks and make the auditors act as an advisor, thereby improving efficiency and
confidence in the audit, while simultaneously reducing risks. Auditors must remain
active and efficient to plan for the deep implementation of AI. The auditor now is
expected to have the characteristics of being tech-savvy, strategic thinker, and a good
communicator. While deep knowledge and know-how in traditional audit areas will
continue to be required even with AI, auditors must be responsive to their changing
climate. It is advisable for students who want a position in this field to educate
by incorporating technology and research as an ideal candidate in addition to their
accounting basis. The field of an audit is evolving rapidly because of AI growth.
Auditors will have to re-focus on the technology associated with AI acquiring the
skills related to higher-value tasks involving intuitions, decisions, communication
skills expertise. Murphy (2017) advocated the need for such competencies as it
encourages companies to develop organization environment which is coupled with
7 An Investigation of Artificial Intelligence … 105

intensive training. ACCA research presents insights into future skills and how they
can change, and the requirement of “digital quotient” (McGhee and Grant 2019).
The report by McGhee and Grant (2019) also identified the most important compe-
tency area and mentioned that there is a large gap of skills in all specialized futuristic
finance professions including the traditional technical skills and range of quotients
such as Intelligence (IQ), Digital (DQ), Vision (VQ), Experience (XQ), Technical
skills and ethics (TEQ). ACCA and CA ANZ provide education and knowledge-
building skills to improve the technical and technological capability of students and
the members. It also ascertains financial and non-financial information that recog-
nizes the professional and ethical requirements that must be met through the use of
data technologies. Forbes and KPMG (2017) articulated that in order to attract the
interest and thoughts of young individuals, accounting needs to be seen as forward-
looking, innovative, and high-tech. The “hybrid skills” required for potential auditors,
on the other hand, can make the audit profession more appealing for people from
various backgrounds. Auditing is still a profession that requires teamwork, and it is
important to combine the right skills in the team.

7.2.2 Artificial Intelligence and Auditing Profession

AI is a concept with interlinked technologies that involve data mining, machine

learning, speech recognition, image recognition and sentiment analysis. For the
auditing profession, artificial intelligence provides the benefits of advanced methods
that support in understanding ledgers, detecting material misstatements, and
reporting the underlying risks to the clients (Colthart 2019). Both the auditing firm
and client will find its amount of work considerably reduced due to AI-based systems
as it analyzes complete ledgers with minimum questioning of the client. AI parses
information that will flag transactions that deviate from the data set which would not
be caught by traditional testing practices (Colthart 2019).
With the proliferation of financial transactions, auditors must decide on the sample
that is representative of the population. This would enable them to make conclusions
that are generalizable beyond the sample. This is where machine learning steps in
and resolves the dilemma of sampling as it reviews the entire population and provides
assistance to the auditor for testing the items that are beyond the norm (ACCA 2019).
PwC (2017) discusses an example of machine learning in audit at a US firm according
to which, the machine searches for the peer group of Company A which is being
audited. A set of peer group ratios are calculated and compared against Company A
performance to identify unusual trends. This data are then shared with the auditors to
investigate if the variance is an anomaly and the reasons for the same. The auditor’s
decision and reason are then fed into the machine for responding to similar variances
in future. Thereby, machines would identify unusual patterns instantly and support
auditors in detecting fraud. Another practical example of the deployment of machine
learning is the tie-up of Deloitte with Kira Systems in 2014 whereby a contract
analysis software was introduced (Kepes 2016). The platform was trained to read
106 T. A. R. Dalwai et al.

complex documents, extract and structure textual information for analysis. Boillet
(2018a) also advocates that AI tools are able to accurately extract information from
lease contracts based on pre-defined criteria thereby improving the precision over
human review. This enables value addition to the audit process as better queries
and interaction can be established with the CFOs, audit committees and board of
directors.
Taylor (2020) suggests that sentiment analysis is a popular tool that scans and
processes employee sentiment by evaluating pieces of text. This would identify if
the tone of the employee was positive, negative, or neutral with reference to the topic
and be the potential to mitigate future risks and combat fraud. The intelligent commu-
nications monitoring are built with bankruptcy prediction algorithm that analysis the
employee textual communication along with the financial statements calculations.
This supports scanning early indicators for any financial problems and mitigating its
associated risks.
Artificial intelligence use in analyzing the audit proposals through the use of Coh-
Metrix Text Principal Component scores has supported in identifying strategies to be
adopted for communication by the auditing firms (Chang and Stone 2019). Auditing
firms market their services through well-drafted auditing proposals, thereby attracting
potential clients. The audit proposal quality will result in competition intensification
to obtain audit engagements (Broberg et al. 2013) and establish unique selling points
for differentiating themselves (Hodges and Young 2009). Auditors are guided for
improving their written communication materials in terms of clarity, conciseness,
simplicity, consistency, and coherence through the use of linguistic-based studies
(Fakhfakh 2015). Chang and Stone (2019) advocate that training auditors based on
linguistic methods and tools would improve their overall communication success as
a firm. Thereby auditing firms can use the Coh-Metrix tools to identify the textual
features needing improvement in the audit proposals or audit reports and serve for
its larger communication and marketing purpose.

7.2.3 Artificial Intelligence and Ethical Implications

in Auditing

(a) Ethics and AI

There are two common types of ethics, they are “instance-based ethics” and
“principle-based ethics.” The former is related to the observation of any matter and
note that there is something wrong, while the latter is “related to the application of
values consistently to reach appropriate decisions, regardless of the particulars of
the situation.” Principle-based ethics are more related to AI which needs it needs
designed ethics to control all related issues (Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors
7 An Investigation of Artificial Intelligence … 107

2019). The ethical study of AI, as a part of emerging technologies, is considered still
in its early stages. The importance of emerging technologies and the need to have
ethical analysis related to it has been realized recently, then the need to have theories
and methodologies to deal with it is still novel (Brey 2012).
(b) Futuristic approach and AI
The deal with ethics within the emerging technologies, and consequently AI, can be
proceeded through one of three approaches. First: ignorance, under the belief of keep
innovation and do not stifle it. This approach is not practical as it would only lead
to deferring problems. Second: conservative approach, according to it, ethical issues
will be addressed only when they materialize or when they are reliably predictable.
This approach would also not practical for AI as its more dynamic and its’ adaption
is proceeded at a pace faster than other types of technology and its’ related issues
are more complicated and unfeasible to change when the technology being in use
(Munoko et al. 2020). The concerns about the two approaches support the third
approach which called “futuristic approach.” This approach aims to forecast what
the ethical implications will be of using emerging technology in the particular field of
auditing (Brey 2012). The ethical analysis of emerging technology implicitly contains
uncertainty related to many perspectives such as future devices and applications
(Sollie 2007). The question is when there is no certainty about future technologies,
how the ethical analysis be done? The deal with this problem can be done through
one of two approaches, the first is more conservative and reliable while the second
is more uncertain and speculative.
The first approach is called “generic approach,” it focusses only on ethical issues
that can be predicted reliably or fully known. These issues are predicted to appear
with any future use of technology, and they are unavoidable. These issues are related
to the characteristics of the technology itself or characteristics related to possible
applications. The development of genetic technology was correlated from the begin-
ning with the need of having modification of genetic material. Hence, this approach
deals with these generic ethical issues expected from the technology progresses.
The second approach is more speculative, and it’s called “the forecasting approach.”
This approach predicts different devices and implications the emerging technology
(including AI). It explores ethical issues that would present themselves if these
forecasts were to come true (Brey 2012).
(c) Ethical approaches to AI
Although many forecasting approaches to technology are followed, ethical
approaches to technology that involve forecasting are only a few, these approaches
developed only during the last decade. These approaches are: (i) ethical tech-
nology assessment (eTA), (ii) ethical impact assessment approach, (iii) the techno-
ethical scenarios approach, and (iv) ethical assessment of emerging information and
communication technologies (ETICA).
108 T. A. R. Dalwai et al.

Ethical Technology Assessment (ETA) approach has elaborated by Palm and

Hansson (2006). Technology developers participated significantly in the develop-
ment of this approach. It assesses practices and provides negative ethical implica-
tions related to the development of technology (Palm and Hansson 2006). ETA takes
place via indicating ethical concepts in technology-related matters which are even
projected features of technology or/and anticipated social consequences of tech-
nology usage through. It relies on an ethical checklist includes nine issues related
directly or indirectly to the ethical emerging technologies even in a conventional
sense or in a broad sense. This approach may indicate that this approach is more
suitable to assess the ethical issues related to the technology in the long-run only,
while in the long-run (Brey 2012).
Wright (2011) initiated the second approach which is called the “Ethical Impact
Assessment Approach” (EIAA) to ensure that ethical issues are taken into consid-
eration when IT developers develop any new technology-related initiative. Wright’s
approach ensures ethical IT issues via an extended checklist contains a wide range of
ethical values and principles. The answer to these questions was collected from all
stakeholders through many platforms, such as expert workshops, consultations, and
surveys. Wright’s approach is more suited for the ethical assessment of the already
existing and known IT projects rather than the broad ethical assessment of emerging
IT and its’ related uncertainty issues.
A third recent approach is called “Techno-Ethical Scenarios Approach” (TESA)
elaborated by Boenink et al. (2010) to anticipate ethical controversies regarding
emerging technologies for the emerging technologies which help policymakers. This
approach relies on scenario analysis anticipating the “mutual interaction between
technology and morality” via the ethical assessment of the new technologies from a
moral perspective. Taking a moral perspective into consideration may increase the
validity of the emerged technology in society.
Finally, the fourth approach called the “Ethical Information Technology Assess-
ment” (ETICA) approach provides a comprehensive overview of ethical issues that
emerging technologies may play in the following few years (medium-term). ETICA
aims to forecast the multiple possible futures using different methods to identify
the anticipated impacts for having emerging technologies. Further, it anticipates the
different constraints and social impacts of these emerged technologies (Stahl 2011).
Mechanisms, strengths, and limitations of each ethical approach are summarized
in Table 7.1.

7.2.4 Risks Associated with Artificial Intelligence

and Auditing

Despite the advantages AI introduces to any work, there are significant risks to be
managed. The risks are specific to the AI application and to the type of business
adopting it. The following are some of the risks posed by AI (Boillet 2018b):
Table 7.1 Mechanisms, strengths, and limitations of ethical approach
Ethical approach Mechanism Strengths Limitations
Ethical Technology Assessment Ethical checklist includes nine issues Although Palm and Hansson’s approach – Miss the details of the kind knowledge
(ETA) related to emerging technologies is a good initiative can be followed with needed to be acquired and the method
emerging technologies of its’ acquisition
– There is a lack of clarification about the
method of performing the analysis of
ethical matters
– The limitation of the nine issues
included in the checklist
Ethical Impact Assessment An extended ethical checklist contains: – It contains many questions related to – Lack of clarity about how forecasting
Approach (EIAA) – Range of ethical values the ethical aspects of new technologies takes place using expected artifact,
– Range of ethical – It elaborates procedures for involving applications, and social consequences
– Range of questions related to values and stakeholders in ethical analysis – Lack of clarity about how participants’
principles capability on answering questions
related to the ethical checklist based on
7 An Investigation of Artificial Intelligence …

the knowledge that they have

Techno-Ethical Scenarios Scenario analysis – It anticipates the mutual interaction – It is a descriptive and predictive
Approach between technology and morality approach, rather than normative and
– It focuses on detailed scenarios prescriptive
– It pays attention to moral change – It does not describe moral issues ought
to emerge from an ethical point of view
– It misses ethical issues that are unlikely
to collect much public attention but that
are nevertheless important
– It may identify moral controversies that
may emerge in public debate that are
based on a false or misguided
understanding of the technology or its
social consequences
(continued)
109
Table 7.1 (continued)
110

Ethical approach Mechanism Strengths Limitations

Ethical Information Technology Multiple methods implemented to identify Considering a wide range of – First, its claim to adopt a futures studies
Assessment (ETICA) the followings for emerging technologies: technological properties, artifacts, approach is somewhat dubious, as the
– Projected artifacts applications, and ethical issues. And it main sources for locating ethical issues
– Projected applications aims to make use of state-of-the-art that have been used in the ETICA
– Capabilities work in future studies approach are texts which are not based
– Constraints on futures research
– Social impacts – A second weakness is that many of the
ethical analysis undertaken in the
ETICA project appears to refer to
generic properties of the technologies
that are studied
Source Brey (2000, 2012)
T. A. R. Dalwai et al.
7 An Investigation of Artificial Intelligence … 111

a. Programming errors: The AI applications are based on algorithms and any errors
in constructing these would affect the results and overall conclusions.
b. Algorithm bias: AI application algorithms detect the patterns of data and codify
it based on predictions, modeling, rules, and decisions. The machine algorithms
are built on data and experience, which might suffer from interaction, latent
or selection bias. This in turn would result in outcomes that reinforce existing
patterns of discrimination.
c. Overestimating AI: Deep learning performs statistical techniques for identifying
patterns in large amounts of data, but it cannot be expected to understand the
same as humans do. If the input data is incomplete, biased, or of poor quality,
AI will produce outcomes that are not reliable.
d. Threats from cyberattacks: Hackers can use machine algorithm hacking methods
or botnets for accessing the network and sensitive data. This poses a security
threat to the people and the government.
e. Lack of legislation: While the adoption of AI technologies is unabated around
the world, the legislation dealing with the same are just coming to force. There is
a strain on the existing laws and regulations to deal with the emerging challenges
posed by AI. Most governments are adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach as the
AI use and abuse is not clearly known (Walch 2020).
f. Reputational Risk: As AI deals with sensitive and confidential data, if the algo-
rithm is biased, error-prone, or hacked, it could have the reputational risk to the
organization that owns its.

7.3 Conclusion

The advancement of new technologies demands that the auditing firms and their
teams become more agile (Newmark et al. 2018). In addition to the knowledge of
accounting and auditing rules, auditors will be required to have a new skill set that
demonstrates an understanding of the information systems, data science, and general
business. The implementation of artificial intelligence in the auditing field is yet
to be proven, and it is difficult to estimate how the audit process would undergo a
change with machine learning; it would be useful for the auditing firms and auditors
themselves to consider implications on future client engagements.
The preparation toward AI for auditing firms involves not just investment into the
AI systems but also acquiring or developing the skill set necessary for using the same.
While the firms would benefit to hire computer programmers, it would be useful for
the accountants and auditors to have knowledge of coding to collaborate with the IT
professionals more effectively in building the algorithms.
While the growth of AI is proliferated in all fields, there is a need to be vary of its
ethical implications. Munoko et al. (2020) advocate a proactive approach rather than
a reactive approach for the ethical implications of AI. Ethical governance is required
by the firm implementing AI and regulatory bodies need to update their regulations
to accommodate the risks associated with AI implementation.
112 T. A. R. Dalwai et al.

AI has demonstrated benefits for the auditing profession; however, it is also

warranting for caution in its use. AI algorithms are fed by humans, and it is impor-
tant to note that the expectations must build on its performance based on the data
and experience that goes into the system. Any work or profession can only use AI
systems as complementary to the expertise in their respective fields.

References

ACCA (2019) Machine learning more science than fiction. ACCA, London, United Kingdom
Alareeni B (2019a) A review of auditors’ GCOs, statistical prediction models and artificial
intelligence technology. Int J Bus Ethics Governance 2(1):19–31
Alareeni BA (2019b) The associations between audit firm attributes and audit quality-specific
indicators: a meta-analysis. Manag Audit J 34(1):6–43
Alsuwaigh MA, Mohd Noor AB, Abdullah Othman AH (2020) The importance of the accounting
disclosure as a mediator factor between the shareholders of the cash Waqf in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia: the theory of planned behavior. Int J Bus Ethics Governance 3(1):15–24
Alzaneen R, Mahmoud A (2019) The role of management information systems in strengthening
the administrative governance in Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Gaza. Int J Bus
Ethics Governance 2(3):1–43. https://doi.org/10.51325/ijbeg.v2i3.44
Anderson J (1997) Technology foresight for competitive advantage. Long Range Plan 30:665–677
Bhutani A, Wadhwani P (2020) Artificial intelligence (ai) in education market size worth $6bn
by 2024. Available: https://www.gminsights.com/pressrelease/artificial-intelligence-ai-in-educat
ion-market. Accessed 25 May 2020
Boenink M, Swierstra T, Stemerding D (2010) Anticipating the interaction between technology
and morality: a scenario study of experimenting with humans in bionanotechnology. Stud Ethics,
Law, Technol 4.
Boillet J (2018a) How artificial intelligence will transform the audit [Online]. EY News. Avail-
able: https://www.ey.com/en_gl/assurance/how-artificial-intelligence-will-transform-the-audit.
Accessed 20 May 2020
Boillet J (2018b) Why AI is both a risk and a way to manage risk [Online]. EY News.
Available: https://www.ey.com/en_om/assurance/why-ai-is-both-a-risk-and-a-way-to-manage-
risk. Accessed 20 May 2020
Brey P (2000) Disclosive computer ethics. ACM SIGCAS Comput Soc 30:10–16
Brey PA (2012) Anticipating ethical issues in emerging IT. Ethics Inf Technol 14:305–317
Broberg P, Umans T, Gerlofstig C (2013) Balance between auditing and marketing: an explorative
study. J Int Account Audit Tax 22:57–70
Chang YT, Stone DN (2019) Why does decomposed audit proposal readability differ by audit firm
size? A Coh-Metrix approach. Manag Audit J 34:895–923
Chartered Institute Of Internal Auditors (2019) Angels or demons? The ethics of AI | Audit & Risk
Magazine |IIA [Online]. Available: https://www.iia.org.uk/audit-risk-magazine/features/angels-
or-demons-the-ethics-of-ai/. Accessed 14 May 2020
Colthart J (2019) Demystifying artificial intelligence for audit | Accounting WEB.
Available: https://www.accountingweb.com/technology/trends/demystifying-artificial-intellige
nce-for-audit. Accessed 17 May 2020
Fakhfakh M (2015) The readability of international illustration of auditor’s report: an advanced
reflection on the compromise between normative principles and linguistic requirements. J Econ,
Financ Adm Sci 20:21–29
Forbes, KPMG (2017) Forbes insights audit 2025: the future is now. Accessed 25 May 2020
Govil S (2020) What AI does for accountants. Available: https://www.accountingtoday.com/opi
nion/what-ai-does-for-accountants. Accessed 19 May 2020
7 An Investigation of Artificial Intelligence … 113

Hodges S, Young L (2009) Unconsciously competent: academia’s neglect of marketing success in

the professions. J Relationship Mark 8:36–49
Iden J, Methlie LB, Christensen GE (2017) The nature of strategic foresight research: a systematic
literature review. Technol Forecast Soc Chang 116:87–97
Kepes B (2016) Big four accounting firms delve into artificial intelligence. Available: https://
www.computerworld.com/article/3042536/big-four-accounting-firms-delve-into-artificial-intell
igence.html. Accessed 20 May 2020
Kokina J, Davenport TH (2017) The emergence of artificial intelligence: How automation is
changing auditing. J Emerg Technol Account 14:115–122
Lombardi DR, Dull RB (2016) The development of AudEx: an audit data assessment system. J
Emerg Technol Account 13:37–52
Maginnis J, Wagaman D (2019) Preparing students for a new tech world. Pennsylvania CPA Journal,
1–4
Mcghee M, Grant S (2019) Audit and technology. ACCA and CA ANZ, United Kingdom and
Australia
Munoko I, Brown-Liburd HL, Vasarhelyi M (2020) The ethical implications of using artificial
intelligence in auditing. J Bus Ethics 167(2):209–234
Murphy H (2017) Auditing to be less of a burden as accountants embrace AI. Financial Times
Newmark RI, Dickey G, Wilcox WE (2018) Agility in audit: could scrum improve the audit process?
Curr Issues Audit 12:A18–A28
Omoteso K (2012) The application of artificial intelligence in auditing: looking back to the future.
Expert Syst Appl 39:8490–8495
Ovaska-Few S (2017) How artificial intelligence is changing accounting. J Account. https://www.
journalofaccountancy.com/newsletters/2017/oct/artificialintelligence-changing-accounting.html
Palm E, Hansson SO (2006) The case for ethical technology assessment (eTA). Technol Forecast
Soc Chang 73:543–558
PWC (2017) Confidence in the future: human and machine collaboration in the audit. Available:
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/about/assets/Confidence%20in%20the%20future.pdf. Accessed 20
May 2020
Raphael J (2017) Rethinking the audit. Available: https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/
2017/apr/rethinking-the-audit.html. Accessed 20 May 2020
Rohrbeck R, Kum ME (2018) Corporate foresight and its impact on firm performance: a longitudinal
analysis. Technol Forecast Soc Chang 129:105–116
Siau K (2017) Impact of artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation on higher education. In
Americas Conference on Infromations Systems, Boston, MA
Sollie P (2007) Ethics, technology development and uncertainty: an outline for any future ethics of
technology. J Inf, Commun Ethics Soc 5(4):293–306
Stahl BC (2011) IT for a better future: how to integrate ethics, politics and innovation. J Inf Commun
Ethics Soc 9:140–156
Taylor M (2020) What could sentiment analysis offer accountancy? [Online]. ICAEW. Available:
https://www.icaew.com/insights/features/2020/feb-2020/what-could-sentiment-analysis-offer-
accountancy. Accessed 19 May 2020
Tiberius V, Hirth S (2019) Impacts of digitization on auditing: a Delphi study for Germany. J Int
Account, Audit Tax 37
Walch K (2020) AI laws are coming. Available: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2020/
02/20/ai-laws-are-coming/. Accessed 20 May 2020
Wright D (2011) A framework for the ethical impact assessment of information technology. Ethics
Inf Technol 13:199–226

Tamanna Abdul Rahman Dalwai (Assistant Professor) is working in the higher education sector
for more than thirteen years. Since 2008, she has been employed with Muscat College and served