Big 4 auditors have been asked to explain what measures they are taking to prevent professionals from using ChatGPT and other AI tools to cheat on exams.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has questioned the UK's biggest audit firms and professional accountants over concerns that rule-breakers could use AI to game the system.
The UK's accounting watchdog will continue to work “closely” with these organizations to ensure they have robust systems in place to detect, monitor and combat fraud that could undermine audit quality. He said that
KPMG UK is now understood to be warning employees before and during mandatory audit training that fraud using AI will not be tolerated and those who break the rules risk losing their jobs. .
Deloitte UK has also told students that using AI tools during exams is not allowed and will be considered serious cheating.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) said it is actively working with regulators to continuously monitor exam fraud risks.
The 144-year-old organization has more than 208,000 members and audit exams are held in a fully supervised environment, meaning candidates can use AI chatbots to cheat undetected. said that it could not be done.
The ICAEW spokesperson added: “However, we constantly monitor the use of AI and the risks it poses.”
The specialist body, which was founded under a Royal Charter in 1880 and oversees around 11,500 companies, is currently exploring how AI can be used to “enhance the exam experience of the future” as technology becomes increasingly used in the workplace. We are investigating whether it can be used for
“Our exams always aim to reproduce the skills required in current and future professional accounting environments,” the ICAEW spokesperson added.
Concerns about AI have increased in recent years following a series of embarrassing fraud scandals in the accounting industry.
The FRC has ordered Britain's top auditors to crack down on fraud in 2022 after dozens of employees were found to have shared their answers while completing an online test introduced during the pandemic .
The regulator found that the trainee accountants had on numerous occasions exchanged answers via email and messaging platforms such as WhatsApp.
The FRC launched an investigation after reports of widespread fraud across the Big Four's operations in the United States, Canada and Australia.
Earlier this month, KPMG Netherlands was fined a record $25m (£20m) by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board after hundreds of employees, including senior partners and managers, were found to have cheated on an ethics exam. was fined.
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