AI has changed the nature of work in the economy but far from being the end of the accountancy profession, as some have predicted, this position paper demonstrates the enormous opportunities that AI represents for accountants who embrace and adapt to it.
Despite the advances in AI, our economy and wider society is still based on trust and that will continue to be the case. AI will increasingly do more of the routine and rules-based tasks, but who is going to provide that trust? Trust is more valuable and hard-earned than ever before, and Chartered Accountants have earned a reputation on this island and around the world as trusted business leaders. Through strategic thinking, governance and ethics, and technical expertise the accountant will be a trusted interlocutor between the technology and the end user in an AI economy.
This will prove to be a critical role. Chartered Accountants Ireland is embracing AI. We have fundamentally changed the way we educate trainee accountants; the syllabus has been overhauled and the method through which we train new accountants is now unrecognisable from just a decade ago. We have integrated AI, data analytics, blockchain, and other digital technologies into the Chartered Accountants Ireland syllabus.
This is not a sudden change, but a considered and consistent evolution that began 10 years ago and will continue as the technology evolves. The skills that will set Chartered Accountants apart in the coming years are human and transversal: learning how to learn, systems thinking, problem-solving, critical thinking.
first published on Chartered Accountants Ireland.
