Accountabilities for CPAs in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

The opportunities presented in artificial intelligence are already being felt at every level of the profession. In a 2023 survey of accountants across Canada, 89% said AI will positively impact the accounting profession, but in another survey from Deloitte, 86% of companies in Canada had concerns about the ethical risks associated with this evolving technology.

In CPA Ontario’s thought leadership paper Trust in New Frontiers: Putting AI Governance into Practice, we examined how CPAs have a critical role to play in building trust in AI by developing the governance structure through ethics to develop worst-case scenarios involving AI and the development of measures required to avoid bad outcomes, while building confidence in the technology.

If you are a CPA using AI in the course of your work, understanding the obligations laid out in the CPA Code of Professional Conduct is essential for upholding the highest standards of the profession, and protecting the public. The same obligations for CPAs that govern the use of any software apply to the use of artificial intelligence, as do the same accountabilities. The CPA continues to hold the sole responsibility for the quality of the work performed, regardless of the technology used to perform that work.

CPAs need to consider the implications, and potential ethical risks, associated with the use of AI, including:

• How are you developing and administering the governance and policies on the ethical use of generative AI, including identifying clear accountabilities within an organization on its use?
• How does your organization identify risks associated with the use of AI, including data hallucinations, the introduction of data bias and cybersecurity, and develop the appropriate mitigation strategies?
• How do the laws and regulations on the governance of AI apply to your organization, given the recent release of the Digital Charter Implementation Act (Bill C-27)?
• How are you building the capacity within the organization with the necessary technical expertise in the fields of AI to support governance?
• How is your organization ensuring that third-party generative AI products are meeting all of the necessary legal, regulatory and governance requirements?

There is no algorithm for ethics, professional standards or good governance. Even as the application of generative AI continues to transform the economy the standards of the profession and foundation of professional ethics, found in the CPA Code of Professional Conduct, remains the lens through which CPAs should view this new technology.