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As trusted advisers with a high professional regard for ethics, accountants should be tasked with leading the charge on the ethical adoption of artificial intelligence, peak bodies say.
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Accountants best placed to lead ethical AI use: CA ANZ, ACCA
24 August 2021
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A new report published by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) should emerge as a wake-up call to the profession, who the associations say should lead the ethical adoption of AI among their organisations.
The report, which includes the results of a poll that surveyed 5,700 respondents in 21 countries, makes nine recommendations.
Among them are the need for accountants to play a role in setting the tone at the top of organisations adopting AI, and for the profession to challenge “greenwashing” by using AI to measure an organisation’s sustainability claims against their real-world performance.
ACCA chief executive Helen Brand said the profession should harness its long-standing commitment to ethics to lead the charge and ensure that the uptake of AI considers potential harm and unforeseen impacts.
“AI adoption must consider the needs of all, especially the under-represented and vulnerable in society,” Ms Brand said. “That’s why one of our recommendations is to ensure the profession exercises its professional judgement, because AI may create previously unseen situations.
“We recommend that professional accountants need to avoid over-reliance on simplistic checklist-based approaches which don’t give the full picture or leave space for unintended consequences.”
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The poll suggests the profession is approaching AI with caution. Just 43 per cent of those surveyed said they believe AI is having a positive impact on personal rights related to safety, personal security, fairness, choice and transparency.
It also found that 66 per cent of respondents believe that their leaders prioritise ethics on par with profits.
Meanwhile, 64 per cent said they believed the overall impacts of AI on standard of living are positive. But only half of that cohort believe AI is having a positive impact on dispelling societal inequities.
CA ANZ chief executive Ainslie van Onselen said that accountants are well positioned to play a key role in the responsible adoption of AI, by playing a role in establishing the governance mechanisms that regulate their corporate use.
“Our report found that in order to ethically and sustainably adopt AI, organisations need effective governance mechanisms,” Ms van Onselen said.
“AI is a strategic endeavour that should be spearheaded by leaders who know and execute on the difference between what we have a right to do and what is the right thing to do. It’s important to build knowledge and skills at the intersection of AI, ethics and sustainable development.
“This aligns well to the accountancy profession which can play a key role in driving responsible adoption.”
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