“Artificial intelligence is part of our lives now and many people need help navigating how they can safely use it. This is just as true for ICAEW members, many of whom are wrestling with the role of AI in their day-to-day operations.”

Iain Wright, ICAEW Managing Director, Reputation and Influence, shared these thoughts in recent article, AI is here to stay - the profession must embrace it responsibly. In it, he goes on to say: “Members recognise that AI adoption could be beneficial to them, but based on the sort of questions we’re receiving from them, many are not sure where to start.” 

To help combat the uncertainty and wariness around AI and boost members’ confidence in this area, ICAEW has have created a suite of practical articles, videos and podcasts which can be found at icaew.com/AI.

The basics

The hub contains two introductory articles: Understanding AI: what is – and isn’t – artificial intelligence? and Types of AI: how are they classified? which offer a good starting point.

Do you know an LLM from a GPT? A look through this glossary of terms will bring you up to speed on the language of AI. And we've created a list of AI dos and don'ts.

Want to know how AI could help you in your role? These eight use cases highlight some of the benefits AI can bring to the accountancy profession. But don’t forget that your AI tools are only as good as the data you feed them, as outlined by tech obsessive Insolvency Practitioner Paul Brindley.

For more support, take a look our full set of Understanding AI articles and, for generative AI content, refer to our comprehensive Generative AI guide. 

Challenges and ethics

• Estimates show that 40% of the workforce will need to upskill in the next three years to handle the adoption of AI. This article explores the AI skills gap ticking time bomb.
• Considering using AI for audit? This podcast discusses the benefits and drawbacks.
• The rise of AI has brought about a new wave of cybercrime – how can you protect yourself against it?
• There’s a whole host of ethical challenges around the use of AI, from ensuring transparency to the impacts of overreliance. BDO shares how embedding ethics in its policies and systems has helped mitigate these challenges.
• While embracing new technology is critical, having an awareness of what can go wrong is always useful.

Free elearning

ICAEW's Finance in a Digital World programme provides a suite of free digital elearning modules for members, including three specifically focused on AI:

• AI and cognitive computing
• Introduction to generative AI
• Generative AI for finance