An expert at a recent webinar hosted by the Institute of Internal Auditors Qatar on Artificial intelligence vs.Auditing- the future state, have disclosed that Artificial Intelligence (AI) would not replace auditors.
Speaking at the webinar, Susan Paul, a System security trainer from the USA, said, “Artificial intelligence (AI) will not replace auditors. However, the job market would get competitive for those who can adapt and learn AI in this ever-changing audit field. An auditor can be more effective when they provide greater insight and assurance to the client.”
Paul is one of the top 10 Internal audit thought leaders for 2020 in the world, according to the President of the IIA Global. She has more than 15 years of experience leading many fortune 500 companies in IT audits, information security, risks, and governance business lines. Susan’s inspiration is Elon Musk, who pioneered the Tesla driverless cars and Space-X Starship rocket system to clean orbit.
“Artificial intelligence is the science of training machines to perform human tasks. There are three types of AI. Narrow AI is when the machine can perform a specific task better than a human. The current research of AI is here now. General AI reaches the general state when it can perform any intellectual task with the same accuracy level as a human would, and Strong AI is when it can beat humans in many tasks,” said Paul.
“The AI used in machine learning is where the machine has built-in algorithms that help it learn based on transactions it is fed. This software platform uses AI and various control points (benchmarks) to analyze the transactions and then puts those transactions into buckets: high risk, medium risk, or low risk. Previously, auditors would manually sample at random to figure out which transactions to review, which was less effective. AI is more comprehensive; it alerts the team when things do not look right and tells auditors where to start and where the risk will be,” she added.
During the webinar IIA Qatar board member Sundaresan Rajeswar said, “Susan explained the technology with stories and anecdotes from personal experience. The training provided massive learning opportunities to members. Internal auditors’ value-add will soon be judged on their predictability of what could happen to the business.”
IIA Qatar senior vice president Fahad Al Marri said the webinar helped the participants understand what the future may look like in auditing. He said 2021 training would focus on topics to help auditors learn new knowledge to improve workplace performance.
