(FEB UNAIR) With the advent of the digital era, various professions such as auditing have been transformed by artificial intelligence (AI). This conference discussed how ethics and technological advancements must go hand in hand considering the major changes caused by AI in the fields of learning, research, petitions, and even institutional governance. Although AI offers great potential, its integration also poses significant ethical challenges that require a redefinition of the auditor's role from mere compliance checkers to accountability partners and ethical architects. This was conveyed by the Representative of Univ Malaya (Malaysia), Assoc. Prof. Noor Adwa Sulaiman, in the Panel Seminar Session 2 (9th ICEB) themed "Finance, Accounting and Auditing Research" held at the Fajar Notonegoro Hall - Main Building, 2nd Floor, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Airlangga on Tuesday (03/06).
"Studies estimate that there is a 94% chance that auditors and accountants will be replaced by AI and automation, and some even reach a 100% probability of this increase. However, a fundamental question arises: "Will auditors then be replaced by AI?"," said Noor Adwa in the presentation session. According to Noor Adwa, AI cannot provide wisdom, judgment, ethical reasoning, and professional decision-making despite its ability to process data and automate operations such as reconciliation and data entry. Therefore, the presence of AI is a "transition" and not a threat to auditors.
He added that the audit profession is no longer limited to broad financial reporting alone. Audit has become a strategic function tasked with maintaining trust, ensuring integrity in digital systems, validating ESG claims by companies, and holding institutions accountable not only for what they report, but also how they operate and develop.
"The transformation of auditing toward real-time, full-coverage assurance, powered by intelligent systems capable of analyzing and detecting anomalies within seconds, brings significant new responsibilities," said Noor Adwa. Auditors now need to assess governance structures and organizational development, review data integrity and processing techniques, and have the ability to test for bias and opacity in AI.
However, with the immense power of AI comes “ethical blindness.” Pressing issues related to AI include authorization bias, data opacity, and the application of unethical decision-making. “When historical data is used to train AI, meaning in reality, whether social, economic, or institutional, these biases can be perpetuated and even reinforced in predictive models,” explains Noor Adwa. This can lead to bias, fraud, or unequal treatment.
The integration of AI presents both challenges and opportunities for the audit profession, education, and research. “No single institution, profession, or sector can respond in isolation,” Noor Adwa asserts. This calls for action to raise awareness among the current generation about the costs of accountability in an increasingly AI-driven era. For the sake of the future, it is recommended to openly support AI ethics research while ensuring education and research systems adapt to this digital reality. Future auditors will need to master analytics, digital ethics, data management and responsiveness, and skills within an ESG framework. This is a crucial step in restoring public trust in the age of automation and sustainability.
Author: Zawilla Defitrianti Bahtiar (E-Radio FEB UNAIR)