Is the Accounting Profession Ready for ChatGPT?

Photos of Mark Ross and James Zhang

Accountancy Executive in Residence Mark Ross (above, left) and Assistant Professor James (Yibo) Zhang (right) co-authored an article titled, ‘ChatGPT is Ready for the Profession—But is the Profession Ready for ChatGPT?‘ The article describes the results of a survey of 136 accounting practitioners regarding their experiences, attitudes, and perceptions of using ChatGPT. The article also includes information from two expert interviews, and explores the adoption of ChatGPT through the lens of the technology acceptance model.

“Our study was the first professional survey study on the use of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) in the accounting profession,” said Professor Zhang. “The survey data collected in our study represents the ‘infancy’ of Gen AI adoption in the accounting profession, because we collected the data about six months after the launch of ChatGPT. Looking into the future, we are confident that accountants can explore infinite paths in this area given the rapid growth of Gen AI technologies.” 

A preprint PDF of the article is currently available for free download at Accounting Horizons. The article is also discussed in a news feature by Chris Gaetano in Accounting Today [paywall].