“The Reports Of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated”—Expert Systems Research In Accounting UWCISA Symposium, October 2/3rd, 2015

Disclaimer: These are Malik Datardina’s own opinions and not his employers, UW, UWCISA, or anyone else.

Overall Comments

• Key as a stepping stone: builds case for AI and expert systems• Made revisions to bolster Brynjolfson and McAfee (Race Against the Machine,

Second Machine Age, Will humans go the way of Horses)• Firms see algorithms, big data, AI, etc. as key technologies

http://economia.icaew.com/news/january-2015/kpmg-to-take-on-google-with-mid-tier-cloud-services

“In the next five years, are big accountancy firms going to be our competition, or is it actually going to be Google, or Amazon, or somebody else?”

Ian Moffat, KPMG

AI: Possible areas to explore

• IBM’s Watson, Google, Amazon & Microsoft• Viv.ai: Founders of Siri want to build AI on the model of Bluetooth

http://uwcisa-assurance.blogspot.ca/2015/07/artificial-intelligence-new-space-race.html

Why does AI Matter to Audit & Accounting Matter?

94%chance

According to a Sept 2013

study, there is a

http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf

Accounting and Audit occupations

will be computerized.

• Study was cited in the paper but should have more prominence• Lead into the discussion around automation of knowledge work (next slide)

“AI” & the Analyst Firms: See it as a up & coming trend

“…knowledge work automaton tools and systems could take on tasks that would be equal to the output of 110 million to 140 million full-time equivalents (FTEs).”

"Most business and thought leaders underestimate the potential of smart machines to take over millions of middle-class jobs in the coming decades…Job destruction will happen at a faster pace, with machine-driven job elimination overwhelming the market's ability to create valuable new ones.“

If Watson is in health care…

Parallels between medical and audit/account professions• Fiduciary Obligation to clients• Keep on top of Large Volumes of Professional Literature• Exceed Professional Standards• Deliver Value to clients

www.technology.org/2013/08/08/ibm-watson-healthcare-collaboration-with-cleveland-clinic/