A bibliometric analysis of the impact of artificial intelligence on the accounting profession

Purpose Faced with the rapid transformation of the accounting profession by artificial intelligence (AI), this study proposes an in-depth bibliometric analysis to map the evolution and structure of this field of research. Design/methodology/approach Based on a corpus of 447 scientific articles extracted from the Web of Science database and published between 1989 and 2023, our analysis combines performance indicators and scientific mapping techniques, in particular networks of keywords’ co-occurrence. The objective is to identify the dynamics of publications, to identify the central themes and to chart future research trajectories. Findings The results reveal an exponential acceleration of publications over the last decade, marking a conceptual shift from traditional expert systems to advanced technologies such as machine learning and deep learning. The thematic analysis highlights major research areas, particularly the application of AI to fraud detection, the improvement of the reliability of financial information and the transformation of audit practices, which are emerging as driving themes of research. The study also identifies emerging themes such as the prediction of business failures and process automation. In conclusion, this article provides a roadmap for researchers and practitioners. He emphasizes the importance of developing explainable AI (XAI), meeting ethical challenges and strengthening collaboration between academia and industry to ensure a responsible and value-creating integration of AI in accounting. Research limitations/implications Identification of the dynamics of publications to detect the central themes and to outline future research trajectories in the field of the of AI on the accounting profession. Originality/value This study underscored the increasing interest in leveraging AI and blockchain to transform accounting practices. Building on these foundational studies, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of AI's impact on the accounting profession.