Accounting practitioners and students have been urged to embrace artificial intelligence, disruptive innovation, and technological methods of accounting practice in order to make their work more productive and efficient.
The Head of Research, Centre of Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, Anambra State, Prof Meshack Ifurueze, stated this during the international conference for accountants, accounting researchers and educators held at the University, over the weekend.
The three-day event, organised by ANAN in collaboration with the Department of Accountancy of the Odumegwu Ojukwu varsity was themed, ‘Artificial Intelligence and Disruptive Innovation/Technologies, A Curriculum Change in Accounting Education and Practice’.
Delivering his address, Ifurueze said it is imperative to state that artificial intelligence has the potential to significantly impact education, research, and development in Nigeria, thereby creating opportunities and challenges.
He urged the participants to explore transformative ideas that would shape the curriculum of accounting education and practice given the potential of artificial intelligence.
Ifurueze reminded the participants that the ANAN research centre, COOU, was built by the former President of the association, Prof Benjamin Osisioma.
He said, “It is imperative to note that artificial intelligence has the potential to significantly impact education, research, and development in Nigeria, thereby creating opportunities and challenges.
“Accounting researchers, educators, and lecturers should ensure that artificial intelligence and disruptive innovation are inculcated into the accounting curriculum. If the accounting body does not take the innovation seriously, they will be out of the market.
“AI has come to stay and as a result, accountants, accounting students and other participants should explore transformative ideas that come with it and utilise it to shape the curriculum of accounting education and practice given the potential of the innovation.”
He further explained that since the inauguration of the advisory board, the research centre has embarked on the training and retraining workshop, workshop on research layout and proposal presentation of all postgraduate students, workshop on writing research grants for all staff and post-graduate students of Accountancy department, workshop on research analysis and formation of the research group.
A lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof Emma Okoye, in his speech, emphasised that the whole world is fast embracing artificial intelligence and disruptive innovation technologies, adding that all corporate organisations are exposed to it.
Okoye said, “It is important for the accounting researchers, educators, and lecturers to ensure that artificial intelligence and disruptive innovation and technologies are inculcated in the accounting curriculum.
“Accountants and accounting lecturers should not continue to rely on the traditional accounting-based curriculum, if they do so, their students would be out of the market. They should queue into what would be beneficial to their generation to come.”
Some other Artificial Intelligence and disruptive innovation/ technologies he mentioned in the accounting practices were lending machines, natural language processing (NLP), and Genetic ovarium.
