Adoption of artificial intelligence in auditing: An exploratory study

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to transform the audit profession. This exploratory study, by utilising the technology–organisation–environment (TOE) framework and data from semi-structured interviews, identifies several technological (perceived benefits, compatibility, maturity), organisational (readiness, data quality, trust) and environmental (audit standards, regulation, client readiness) factors influencing the adoption of AI tools in audit practice. While AI has the potential to improve audit quality and deliver value-adding services to audit clients, our study concludes that AI adoption requires a rethink of audit practice considering the perceived lack of control in AI ‘black-box’ potentially rendering audit practice even more hidden from view and exposed to increased scrutiny over audit quality. JEL Classification: M42, O31, O32, O33