Are Financial Statements Dead?

Are financial statements relics of the past? A myriad of financial tools and alternative sources of information have crowded a space once dominated by financial statements and the accountants who prepared them.  But as AI grows more sophisticated and the sources of financial data continue to expand, can CPAs maintain their role at the centre of economic activity?

David McGuffin speaks with Jon Lukmonik, Managing Director of Sinclair Capital and Cathy Cobey, the EY Global Trusted A.I. Advisory Leader, about how big data and AI change everything about investing. And how CPAs need to respond to thrive in this new environment.

“(CPAs) need to understand how financial statements link to the broader universe of data, And if that happens, the centrality of the profession to the economy will continue. But if not, then, unfortunately, they could become the weavers of the 21st century," says Jon Lukomnik.

In this episode, they discuss:

1m:00s

• How investing has dramatically changed over the past two decades and the profound implications of these changes to the role financial statements play in investment decisions.

5m: 30 secs

• Why CPAs need to understand how financial statements link to the broader universe of data, both structured and unstructured, if they wish to remain central to the economy.

9m:10 secs

• How AI fails differently from humans.

9m:40 secs

• A great example of AI mistaking an image of a house for an airplane or an image of a teddy bear for a gun when just a couple of pixels are altered.

13m: 30 secs

• How ‘we need to weave ‘trust-by-design’ into the earliest stages of AI projects to mitigate potential risks.

15m: 00 secs

• What role should CPAs play in creating governance and integrity over data?

18m: 30 secs

• How CPAs need to educate themselves about AI and get involved in projects in their organization where it is being used to thrive in this new environment.

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• Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect that of CPA Canada.
• Avertissement : Les opinions et les points de vue exprimés dans cette série de balados sont ceux de l’invité et ne représentent pas nécessairement ceux de CPA Canada.