WORLD ACADEMY OF INFORMATICS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
ISSN : 2278-1315
some roles and create others. The message is keep calm and
“Machines are tools, but do people trust them implicitly? The
don’t freak out, because it will make your job easier”.
answer is no”.
Evangelidis said that blockchain based on distributed
ledgers was on the cusp of changing business to the same
extent as the internet in the late 1990s.
2019 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) PREDICTIONS
“Smarter Contracts” in transactions such as real estate
purchases had the potential to eliminate banks, lawyers and
Artificial Intelligence – specifically machine learning and
real estate agents from the process, cutting time down to less
deep learning – was everywhere in 2018 and don’t expect the
than a week and costs from an estimated $30,000 per
hype to die down over the next 12 months. The hype will die
transaction to under $900.
eventually of course, and AI will become another consistent
He quoted the example of the World Bank, which in August
thread in the tapestry of our lives, just like the internet,
2018 used blockchain technology developed by the
electricity, and combustion did in days of yore. But for at least
Commonwealth Bank to issue and price a A$100 million
the next year, and probably longer, expect astonishing
bond at only 5 per cent of the cost of a traditional manual
breakthroughs as well as continued excitement and hyperbole
bookbuild process.
from commentators. This is because expectations of the
changes to business and society which AI promises (or in
Reducing Fraud
some cases threatens) to bring about go beyond anything
For accountants, Evangelidis said blockchain would have a
dreamed up during previous technological revolutions. AI
major impact on the taxation system and help boost
points towards a future where machines not only do all of the
compliance and eliminate fraud.
physical work, as they have done since the industrial
“If the Australian Government announced that they were
revolution but also the “thinking” work – planning,
moving the tax system onto blockchain, every transaction
strategizing and making decisions.The jury’s still out on
through an account would be tracked, compliance would be
whether this will lead to a glorious utopia, with humans free
a whole lot easier and tax would be more straightforward
to spend their lives following more meaningful pursuits, rather
and hard to avoid”, he said.
than on those which economic necessity dictates they dedicate
Fellow panelist Alan FitzGerald, a technology consultant to
their time, or to widespread unemployment and social unrest.
accountants through his firm PracticeConnections, disagreed
We probably won’t arrive at either of those outcomes in 2019,
with Evangelidis on the maturity of blockchain technology,
but it’s a topic which will continue to be hotly debated. In the
which he believed was several years away from having a
meantime, here are five things that we can expect to happen:
significant impact.
AI increasingly becomes a matter of international politics
Rather, FitzGerald focused on RPA and AI as technologies
2018 has seen major world powers increasingly putting up
that would impact accountants and the finance functions of
fences to protect their national interests when it comes to trade
organizations much sooner.
and defense. Nowhere has this been more apparent than in the
This would be increasingly enabled by 5G mobile networks
relationship between the world’s two AI superpowers, the US
which would transmit larger volumes of data at much
and China. In the face of tariffs and export restrictions on
greater speeds than current 4G and 3G networks.
goods and services used to create AI imposed by the US
“RPA is automating what can be automated, so it is a dumb
Government, China has stepped up its efforts to become self-
technology, but when you put AI on top of that it can read
reliant when it comes to research and development.
the information and perform tasks such as cross referencing
papers in a tax return within thirty seconds,” said
Chinese tech manufacturer Huawei announced plans to
FitzGerald.
develop its own AI processing chips, reducing the need for the
“RPA is the brawn, and AI is the brains.”
country’s booming AI industry to rely on US manufacturers
like Intel and Nvidia. At the same time, Google has faced
ACCOUNTANTS AS ANXIETY TRANSFER EXPERTS
public criticism for its apparent willingness to do business
In this digitized environment, accountants should always
with Chinese tech companies (many with links to the Chinese
remember that they would remain the “anxiety transfer
government) while withdrawing (after pressure from its
experts” for clients, allaying fears and concerns and
employees) from arrangements to work with US government
delivering insights into their business.
agencies due to concerns its tech may be militarized. With
To promote this, accountants needed to harness the power of
nationalist politics enjoying a resurgence, there are two
social media to “capture attention, develop relationships,
apparent dangers here.
make clients want to work with you and convert them to
Firstly, that artificial intelligence technology could be
clients”.
increasingly adopted by authoritarian regimes to restrict
Through social media, the goal was to “identify a problem
freedoms, such as the rights to privacy or free speech.
only you can fix”, give people some information about the
Secondly, that these tensions could compromise the spirit of
expertise of the accountancy practice and attract a fresh
cooperation between academic and industrial organizations
audience.
across the world. This framework of open collaboration has
The message to accountants who feared the world of
been instrumental to the rapid development and deployment
digitization is that RPA and AI were not taking their jobs,
of AI technology we see taking place today and putting up
but rather doing parts of the job which “no one likes
borders around a nation’s AI development is likely to slow
anyway” such as data entry.
that progress. In particular, it is expected to slow the
“The AI is clever but it won’t replace human oversight or
development of common standards around AI and data, which
verification”, says FitzGerald.
could greatly increase the usefulness of AI.
www.waims.co.in
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