Artificial intelligence (AI) is a type of technology that allows machines to perform decision-based tasks previously left to humans. To some accountants, the words "artificial intelligence" mean goodbye jobs. Kai Fu Lee, an AI expert and former Google executive, believes 40 percent of all jobs will be replaced by automation in the next two decades. On the other hand, AI is currently being used to supplement accountants, not replace them. The director of accounting firm Raedan believes AI is the next step in automation and efficiency provided by cloud software. He believes AI will increase time savings, reduce errors, and aid compliance. In turn, this will allow accountants to spend time on more meaningful tasks, while AI can cover tasks like data entry. AI may also increase employee satisfaction, empowering accountants to focus more on tasks they find enjoyable. Especially at the Big Four accounting firms, retention is difficult. Employees become exhausted from the amount of work and number of hours they have to put in. If AI can be used to automate some of this work, accountants would suffer less from burnout. AI has so many advantages for businesses that many are adopting their own systems. For instance, PricewaterhouseCoopers has developed its own AI system called GL.ai. This system identifies anomalies in its clients' general ledger systems. According to a recent survey of 3,000+ business executives, more than 80 percent of executives believe AI leads to a competitive advantage, and 79 percent believe it will increase their company's productivity. AI will disrupt jobs and businesses of all kinds. However, professionals should not be scared to jump on the AI train because it is likely that AI will disrupt businesses for the better.

Questions:

Describe some of the advantages of AI to the accounting industry.

GL.ai, the AI system adopted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, helps identify anomalies in its clients' general ledger systems. Why do you think this is important?

If AI can take over basic accounting tasks such as data entry, do you think this will improve the services accountants offer to their customers? Why or why not?