AI and Accountability: The Importance of Combining AI with a Human Touch

There’s no doubt that the accounting industry is undergoing a transformation with the help of Artificial Intelligence technology. AI offers the promise of improving efficiency and accuracy and enabling accountants to achieve more than ever. However, despite the advantages, AI cannot entirely replace human expertise and judgement. The role of human oversight remains critical in ensuring that the output generated by AI is reliable and accurate. This is something we are very passionate about at Dext.

One of the key benefits of AI for accountants is that it can help to make informed decisions with greater confidence. AI can analyse vast amounts of financial data in a fraction of the time, freeing up accountants to focus on higher-value tasks, such as offering strategic advice to clients.

However, while AI can enhance the capabilities of accountants, there are limitations to the technology's abilities. AI can 'hallucinate' or generate incorrect outputs if it's not properly trained or validated. This is why human oversight and validation remain essential in ensuring the accuracy and reliability of AI-generated insights.

Accounting and bookkeeping are integral components of any successful business - and the industry has undergone significant changes over the years, from manual paper-based processes to software and cloud-based systems. With the emergence of a new class of Artificial Intelligence, there is a significant shift in the roles and the way that financial information can be managed and processed. However, accountability remains, and no AI is going to replace that yet like no AI has replaced the pilots in a plane - but like chess is now different (grandmasters use AI to analyse and play better), AI is a force multiplier so ensure you have a platform to ride this new wave.

The future of the accounting profession is a collaborative one, where AI and humans work together to deliver the best possible outcomes for clients. At Dext, we have always believed in the power of AI and its ability to transform the accounting industry. One key aspect of our approach is leveraging multiple AI models and architectures. This allows us to achieve the most accurate results for our customers in the industry. While we still have a long way to go, we are proud to lead the pack in this field. The vast amounts of data we have processed over the last 10+ years and our continued ingestion of 300 million plus documents per year undergo extensive review for correctness and classification. This provides us with an unrivalled foundation to continuously evolve.

We envision a future where effortless accounting saves everyone time, doing business should be easier than it is today. As we explore the potential of chat-based interfaces, conversing with financial data and automating even more of the accounting process we recognise accountability is key and that humans empowered by AI are the ultimate goal to realise the full potential of AI in accounting and bookkeeping. We are committed to staying at the cutting edge of AI advancements and applying them responsibly to better serve our customers. We believe that by working together, we can harness the power of AI to drive innovation, efficiency, and accuracy in the accounting industry.

Stephen Edginton, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Dext