University of Richmond Accounting Professor Ashley Austin Awarded Grant Funding for Research on AI in Auditing

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND — University of Richmond accounting professor Ashley Austin has received a grant from accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers to support new research on the use of AI in audits.   

Austin and her partners at the University of Virginia and University of Georgia will develop strategies to help auditors examine AI-generated financial reports with sufficient skepticism.

“Generative AI can be used to great benefit to create detailed and accurate financial statements, forecasts, and analyses,” says Austin. “However, despite their high level of accuracy and persuasiveness, AI insights are not absolute fact. Auditors would benefit from safeguarding measures to enhance their own skepticism when evaluating insights that a client generated with AI assistance.”  

Austin and her research partners plan to collect data for the project within the next year and develop “skepticism-building” strategies that can be used by PwC and other accounting firms around the world. 

Austin has taught at the University of Richmond since 2016. While at UR, she has also received grants from KPMG and the Center for Audit Quality for her work on fraudulent financial reporting.

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