Adoption and Impact of Artificial Intelligence Tools on Audit Practices among Small and Medium Audit Firms in Oyo State

Romoke Rafiat BUSARI; Toyese Akinleye IDOWU

Romoke Rafiat BUSARI Department of Accounting, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Toyese Akinleye IDOWU Department of Accounting, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Expert system, Data mining, Machine learning, Image recognition

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence is gaining preeminence in the developed nations of the world and usage of AI tools for audit practice among the auditing firms is increasing. However, many developing countries in which Nigeria is not an exemption are at the early phase of utilization of AI tools. Also, research focus has been on the Big 4 auditing firms with little or no consideration for small and medium audit firms operating in Nigeria. This study seeks to examine the adoption and impacts of Artificial Intelligence technologies among small and medium auditing firms in Oyo State. Survey research design is employed for the study. The population of the study comprises of all the registered small and medium audit firms operating in Ibadan metropolis, while the sample size of 40 firms is purposively selected. Data are obtained through a well-structured questionnaire. In analyzing the data, descriptive and regression analysis techniques are used. The results of the study show that on the average, the sampled auditing firms embraced the usage of expert system tool and data mining tool. However, machine learning, and image recognition are yet to be fully incorporated into auditing practices. Furthermore, there exist a significant positive relationship between adoption of AI tools and audit quality. The study recommends that there should be awareness and training of audit staff on the usage of machine learning and image recognition among the small and medium auditing firms.