Integrating artificial intelligence into the accounting curriculum

The development and use of artificial intelligence technologies continues to expand in accounting practice, industry and government, However, the exposure of accounting students to artificial intelligence remains almost non-existent. Accounting faculty should move towards integrating artificial intelligence topics into the curriculum so that students can begin learning about artificial intelligence before they encounter it in the workplace. Artificial intelligence techniques give computer systems human-like abilities to reason and learn. For accounting the most promising types of artificial intelligence are expert systems and neural networks. Artificial intelligence is used in auditing, fnancial and management accounting, taxation and government. The integration of artificial intelligence into the accounting curriculum befits the move for microcomputer integration and calls for the innovative use of technology in the accounting courses. Suggestions from the literature include using supplemental readings and requiring students to use and/or build simple expert systems. The motivations and examples discussed here should provide the impetus for other instructors to integrate coverage of artificial intelligence topics into their accounting courses.