Tackling 'automation anxiety’ in accounts payable.
Generally, accounts payable (AP) professionals enjoy strong employment prospects. Good AP accountants are highly-skilled specialists — they’re hard to come by, and employers know it. However, the industry is changing. Emerging technologies are transforming accounts payable — and none more so than artificial intelligence (AI).
AI is set to profoundly impact most industries, and a common theme is the fear that intelligent machines will ultimately put people out of work. So, is your accounting job at risk from artificial intelligence? And if not, how will AI change the way you work? Let’s explore.
An introduction to ‘automation anxiety’
One of the more reliable means of predicting the future is to look to the lessons of the past. After all, this isn’t the first time a technological revolution has impacted our industry. There’s even a term for the fear that machines might take our jobs: it’s called ‘automation anxiety’.
Now AI isn’t strictly speaking automation, but the current media-fueled fears around AI certainly fall within the remit of this catch-all term.
The idea of automation anxiety is nothing new. An article in Quartz points out that the phenomenon dates at least to the 16th century, when Queen Elizabeth I purportedly denied a patent for a new knitting machine as it would jeopardize the livelihoods of “young maidens who obtain their daily bread by knitting.” Automation anxiety reached something of a peak during Britain’s Industrial Revolution, and of course many professions did change — or even disappear completely — during that turbulent time.
An article in the Harvard Business Review points to a period of automation anxiety in the 1960s, while an eye-opening infographic from Medium highlights a different automation-based moral panic occurring every decade from the 1920s to the present day.
These technological revolutions always look like a paradigm shift when you're in the midst of them. AI seems different to anything that came before it — because it is — but so was the internet, and the internal combustion engine, and the spinning jenny. It's only with the benefit of hindsight that these developments seem like a linear progression.
The fear that machines might take our jobs is as old as machines themselves. But as we’re about to see, advances in technology often create at least as many jobs as they disrupt.
Technology and job creation
History tells us that far from being a driver of unemployment, technology can be a benefit to the workforce. The CMA Exam Academy has compared the current fears about AI with the moral panic over accounting software, which emerged in the early 1980s. Then as now, people feared that the days of human accountants were numbered:
“Instead, the field grew 75% over the course of a decade.”
- CMA Exam Academy
The counterargument might be that AI promises a more seismic shift than any technology since Britain’s Industrial Revolution. Even so, the experts expect a similar boost in job creation following what might be termed the ‘AI Revolution’.
“The World Economic Forum estimates that by 2025, technology will create at least 12 million more jobs than it destroys, a sign that in the long run, automation will be a net positive for society.”
- Harvard Business Review
The unknown is always a little frightening, and we don’t know just how AI is going to impact our lives. It’s natural to feel some trepidation — or ‘automation anxiety’ if you prefer — but there are just as many reasons for optimism.
AI in accounts payable
According to the World Economic Forum data referenced above, we can expect 12 million new jobs net. That implies that some jobs will indeed be lost, but will AP accountants be among them?
Accounting Today reports how the big four accountancy firms — Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PwC — are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, but don’t ever anticipate replacing human accountants with machines.
“Instead, the focus at each of the firms seems to be more on augmentation versus full automation. Cliff Justice, KPMG U.S. enterprise innovation leader, said right now the firm is thinking of AI in terms of increasing the efficiency and productivity of human accountants, enabling them to concentrate on broad strategic thinking while computers take care of routine tasks like data entry.”
- Accounting Today
In a nutshell, this is how AI is likely to transform accounting and finance in the immediate future. We’ll see accountants use AI as a valuable tool — helping them save time, reduce human errors and the risk of fraud, and minimize the time spent each day on manual data entry. AI promises to liberate the finance team and empower them to focus on high-value tasks, as the role shifts from a back-office function to a more strategic one. Gartner suggests how a tech-enabled finance department might change in the years to come:
“CFOs must (re)define their finance strategy in terms of value-adding opportunities as autonomous finance becomes table stakes. Finance function strategic plans should incorporate significant technology adoption in areas of waning strength (analytics and reporting) and redeploy employees toward activities that require a portfolio-level view (balance sheet and cash flow analytics). Everyone on the finance team will need to become more data literate.”
- Gartner
Artificial intelligence in accounting is part of this trend. As accountants’ job roles shift towards these “value-adding opportunities”, AI will become increasingly vital in shouldering many of their day-to-day responsibilities. Far from taking accountants’ jobs, AI appears set to make their lives better — increasing job satisfaction, minimizing frustration, and enabling them to assume strategic roles within the organization.
AI underpins Quadient Accounts Payable Automation by Beanworks, increasing the efficiency of accounts payable processes to give you hours back in each day. We’re continuing to explore AI in accounts payable through our regular blog — keep an eye out for new posts and updates in the coming weeks.
