Exciting votes and discussions at the Expertsuisse annual conference

Around 600 participants listened intently to the presentations and panel discussions at this year's Expertsuisse annual conference, which focused on the topic of "Artificial intelligence - will auditing, taxation and fiduciary services be revolutionized?". A highlight was provided by Federal Councillor Beat Jans, who was elected to the Federal Council in December and took over responsibility for the Department of Justice and Police from Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider at the beginning of the year. In his guest speech, he emphasized corporate responsibility and gave an outlook on the challenges facing our state and our economy.

The speakers and plenary agreed that artificial intelligence is like electricity that will be everywhere and change the world - a statement by Stanford professor Fei-Fei Li. But how do we deal with it and how will it change our world and our work?

The use of artificial intelligence can lead to negligence

Sabine Bienefeld, industrial and organizational psychologist and lecturer at ETH Zurich, pointed out the responsibility that experts bear today and tomorrow and that must be subject to control. Effective control requires that people with a comprehensive understanding of the process are always involved in this system. The use of artificial intelligence in conjunction with cognitive overload can lead to negligence. She sees dangers in the loss of contextual knowledge and expert intuition as well as in the fragmentation of work, which can lead to demotivation and exhaustion.

Frank Eilers, an expert in digitalization and new work, is also convinced that artificial intelligence will revolutionize auditing. It will reduce human error and increase efficiency. However, the biggest challenge for auditing companies will not be the implementation of AI, but the adaptation of corporate culture to this new reality. Auditors will not become superfluous, but their role will change drastically.

Artificial intelligence is still in its infancy

In the panel on the use of artificial intelligence in auditing, Florian Häller, Director, Audit Corporates, gave an insight into specific application examples at KPMG and then discussed with Max Schmolke, Transformation Manager at DataSnipper, and Alexander Grimm, Co-Founder and CEO of aspaara, what it takes to ensure that it does not just remain an idea, but that it is successfully implemented.

Kevin Schawinski, CEO of Modulos and lecturer at ETH Zurich, brought a new perspective to the discussion on whether humans or machines will take control, noting a certain disillusionment with artificial intelligence. However, he emphasized that it is only just beginning and that the fears associated with it are unfounded. At the moment, development is strongly influenced by geopolitics. He sees a race between the USA and China when it comes to controlling AI. It is undisputed that artificial intelligence must be subject to certain regulations. However, this is less about consumer protection and more about strategic dimensions.

"As a child in elementary school, I had to write an essay on the topic "What will the world look like in the year 2000?". Much of what my teacher dismissed as the result of my exuberant childhood imagination is now reality - a quarter of a century after the turn of the millennium. At this year's Expertsuisse annual conference, the various speakers showed us where the road ahead will lead. However, the discussions made it clear that expert knowledge and expert intuition will remain indispensable in the age of artificial intelligence," says Peter Ritter, President of Expertsuisse.

Source: www.expertsuisse.ch