ACCOUNTANTS have been encouraged to embrace emerging technology to avoid being replaced by artificial intelligence.

Technology expert Daniel Susskind says the profession is currently facing two possible futures, both driven by the rise in technology.

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‘In the first, accountants use technology to create more efficient versions of the services they already offer. The processes are simply streamlined.

‘The second future is very different and could see accountants displaced by intelligent processes that are designed and operated by people who do not look like typical professionals,’ said Susskind.

He predicts that the second future is likely to become more of a reality.

Susskind was speaking at the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) 2020 Accounting iNdaba which was hosted online last week.

He said traditionally, people use professionals for expert advice on solving complex problems.

‘In the past, they were implicitly trusted as the gatekeeper of specialised knowledge.

‘However, in the internet society, where new ways of sharing knowledge exist, the professions come across as opaque and intentionally obfuscated.

‘Technology experts are finding faster ways to solve problems by decomposing specialist services into component tasks and activities.

‘They are discovering that many of these discrete tasks and activities are not actually complex and can be readily routinised,’ he said.

His observations have been supported by SAIPA which has encouraged its members to not do things differently but to do different things.

‘We cannot continue to offer the same services in the future, only using technology to improve our speed and efficiency. Digitalisation goes further than simply automating your processes and output.

‘We must acquire the competencies to deliver radically new, value-added services,’ said the Institute’s Chief Executive,’ Shahied Daniels.

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