AuditingwithArtificialIntelligence.pdf

Auditing (with) Artificial Intelligence

17 mei 2018 Van der Valk Hotel Utrecht

Mona de Boer, PwC

Who had a customer service interaction in the past month?

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Who is 100% sure the customer service interaction was with a human?

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Exponential Growth and Advanced Technologies

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x

1450 2000 210019601790 2030

Book printing InternetPersonal computerSteam machine Rise of AI No one knows?!

“AI will become more powerful than a human

brain”*

Open source machine learning

Algorithms improve rapidly by collaboration and joint development

Affordable high performance computing High-performance computers today are thousand times more powerful than they were 15 years ago

Big data Since 2006, the worldwide data volume has increased tenfold

*Ray Kurzweil, Google

Robotic Process Automation – The Next Big Thing

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Extension to classical RPA approach by using Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Classic rule based robots excel at AI excels at

Algorithmic processing

Repeatable tasks

Workflow interaction

Natural Language

Pattern identification

Locating knowledge

Machine learning

Eliminate biases

Business process automation platforms

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

AI / Cognitive computing

Algorithmic business Human work

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Almost half of all processes can be automated by

Classic RPA…

…but most of these automated processes have to stop at human interaction. They can be

unleashed by using Cognitive Automation

Robotic Process Automation – Developing the Robo Auditor

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Algorithmic Business

▪ Industrialized use of complex mathematical algorithms to drive improved business decisions or process automation for competitive differentiation

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Alias: Robotic Desktop Automation (RDA)

▪ Automating labor-intensive, repetitive activities across multiple systems and interfaces by training and/or programming third-party software to replicate a user’s workflow

▪ Operates at the presentation layer without the need to change existing systems

▪ Users intervene to handle exceptions as they arise

Business Process Automation (BPA)

▪ Reengineering existing business processes by using software, integrating systems, and restructuring labor to optimize workflows and minimize costs

Intelligent Process Automation (IPA)

Aliases: Cognitive Computing, Smart Workflows

▪ Combining RPA with artificial intelligence technologies to identify patterns, learn over time, and optimize workflows

▪ Through “supervised” and “unsupervised” learning, algorithms make predictions and provide insights on recognized patterns

▪ With IPA, robots can replace manual clicks (RPA), interpret text-heavy communications (natural language processing), make rule-based decisions that don’t have to be pre- programmed (machine learning), and offer customers suggestions (cognitive agents)

Today Future

How do RPA and IPA differ?

RPA directly mimics human behavior

IPA learns how to become more efficient

ProgramInput Output

ProgramInput

Learning

Output

improve systems simple manual activities and learn complex activities automate automate

judgement automate

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Journal entry testing today…

Soon to be…

Identifying risks at a level that humans can’t

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The power of combining exploratory and confirmative analytics

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Intelligence

Knowledge

Information

Big Data

Exploratory

Confirmative

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Finding outliers in A/R listing today…

A/R listing anomaly detection through Machine Learning

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Reviewing MD&A today…

MD&A review on steroids with Natural Language

Analysis & Classification

Visual/Image Recognition – a different view on stock count?

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Digital Auditing Assistant: Auditing Support through Voice Recognition

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Blurred lines: Who ‘owns’ the algorithms?

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PwC

Who audits the algorithms?

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• Every company will become an IT / analytics firm

• In the short term we will be utilizing algorithms in auditing

• In the long run we will be auditing algorithms

Opening AI’s black box

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Bye bye black box…

Researchers teach AI to explain itself

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Be open-minded about your future colleagues…

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mona.de.boer@pwc.com