The Accountancy Department is one of the 13 academic departments at Miami leading the way to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) in its curriculum. Department Chair Anne Farrell, along with Michele Frank and our “AI Champion” Ted Polat, have been working on integrating AI guiding principles into key accountancy courses. Michele Frank presented the team’s work on April 8 at a gathering of the AI in the Majors participants.
This effort is guided by two main principles essential for future accountants:
- Maintaining students’ focus on developing judgment and decision-making skills, including critical thinking
- Leaning into the benefits of AI, particularly in improving and streamlining workflows
These principles underpin the following learning objective and key competencies for AI implementation in accountancy courses.
Students will ethically use AI to improve workflows and enhance data driven decision-making in accounting and business contexts.
learning objective
Key Competencies
- Weigh ethical considerations and risks before utilizing AI tools.
- Design structured prompts and workflows that guide AI tools to perform tasks accurately and efficiently.
- Use AI as a tool to enhance data-driven decision-making (identify/structure problems, generate alternatives, and perform analyses that support decisions/recommendations).
- Critically assess AI outputs for accuracy, reliability, and relevance before using them in professional contexts.
- Take accountability and embed transparency in deliverables and decisions that have been produced, in full or in part, by AI.
This work complements several AI-related initiatives by the department:
- Last fall, our advisory board members and students met in small groups to discover what AI skills employers believe students need, and how students view and use AI. This conversation is shaping what faculty are doing in their courses.
- Ted Polat, our AI Champion, is meeting individually with each of our faculty/staff to understand their AI-related plans and needs, and he interfaces with the dean’s office to stay informed about what’s happening in other majors.
- In February, we invited José Antonio Bowen to do a keynote open to the university and a half-day workshop for just our department and some advisory board members.
- With our new learning objective in place, competencies are being embedded across our courses through assignments (rather than having one AI-specific course)—with several assignments already in place this year, and more to come next academic year.