Despite the many unknowns around AI, people have been quick to trial it in the workplace. A 2023 Adecco global workforce survey found 70% of staff are using generative AI on the job.

Such a high percentage makes sense to ChatGPT trainer Inbal Rodnay from Theory and Motion, but she believes very few would have embedded the use of AI into their daily working lives because they simply don’t know how to use it effectively.

More than half of the workers surveyed by Adecco wanted their employer to offer training on AI. If your employer is yet to get onboard the AI train, here are some reasons why they should.

1. Grow firm revenue

Friyay co-founder Chris Busson believes AI has the potential to catapult revenue growth in organisations.

“The training conversation should be about growth, not about saving time. That’s the old way of thinking,” Busson says.

“If employees are working a few days less or fewer hours, they’re willing to do more and the business can grow. And if you’ve got AI helping you with mundane tasks and your products and services, you’re going to grow in an accelerated amount of time.”

2. Readiness for the big AI leaps

There is plenty of hype about AI but the reality is that it is still in its infancy in accounting, say the tech boffins. The landscape could shift quickly, however, which is why Rodnay believes training should be happening today, not tomorrow.

“AI is moving very fast. In two years’ time, some of us will have a workforce that has two years’ experience in AI, and some of us will have a workforce that has none,” she says.

“We need to develop our skills right now. AI will present more and more opportunities and those trained in AI will seize them and know what to do with them.”

An AI trainer can also help a firm navigate crucial AI decisions when they arise, Rodnay points out.

3. Great for attracting talent

The accounting industry has been searching for solutions to the talent shortage. AI could be one.

Busson recently worked with a large accounting firm and says young accountants are bored with mundane tasks, such as compliance work. Integrating them into a bigger AI strategy could lift engagement levels.

“If a firm starts to articulate what their plan is around gen AI, it creates pathways for careers that are more likely, I think, to retain and attract talent,” Busson says.

4. You will not suddenly forget how to do things

Partners’ big fear is that staff will rely too heavily on AI and neglect the technical knowledge demanded by their roles.

Rodnay says staff need to think and act like reviewers or supervisors: AI is their junior team member and the work needs to be checked.

“If we train staff properly, we can teach them how to be good delegators and reviewers of this technology,” she says.

ChatGPT functions as a prediction engine, says Busson, and lacks awareness and understanding of its actions.

“AI needs us because we are the ones to make sure it’s accurate and being applied to the right problem,” he says.

5. A more exciting work culture

Using AI and leveraging its benefits can make the office a satisfying and fun place to be, Rodnay believes.

“You create an environment where people are constantly sharing what worked for them and what didn't. If it’s a firm of 30 staff, that is 30 brains coming up with the best ways to do things. That’s a place that people are excited to work in,” she says.

“Sharing also helps develop prompt libraries that firms can integrate into their standard operating procedures, so anyone joining the firm knows how to do it and the firm can keep building their AI expertise.”

Staff can also use AI to upskill. Rodnay has seen junior accountants working in advisory use ChatGPT to act more senior with clients. Senior advisers can leverage it to free up their time for new clients.

6. Privacy shouldn’t be a problem

Busson and Rodnay say you can turn off the history on the free ChatGPT model or anonymise firm data before sharing it with the model, to ensure data remains private.

With the paid ChatGPT version, users can elect not to share data for ChatGPT training purposes. Data sent to and from ChatGPT is encrypted, says Busson.

Rodnay warns against using Microsoft Copilot like an internal network without performing a security audit first. There have been cases where files shared internally have been made publicly available.

7. Staff are already using it

As the Adecco survey indicates, staff are already using ChatGPT and other AI tools. A firm might as well train staff and help them to become better users of it and reap the benefits, otherwise they are indirectly exposing themselves to risk.

“If people are using AI behind the scenes, that’s an enormous risk for the organisation,” says Busson.

“If staff don’t understand what the company policy is on AI and the risks involved, are they putting in company data, proprietary knowledge, or personally identifiable information? All of these are no-nos.”

AI training options

A first point of call for AI training could be the AI Hub CA ANZ is planning to launch later this year, which will include training.

Free online courses from YouTube, Coursera, LinkedIn and the IBM AI Academy are all reputable, according to Busson. “Then it’s just about playing with it. The more you play with it, the more you understand how it works,” he says.

Yet Rodnay warns that publicly available training can be generic. She offers ChatGPT training in specific accounting areas, such as compliance, tax planning, bookkeeping, advisory and marketing.

“The magic doesn’t happen in training. It happens when people go back to work and develop the skill of refining the conversation until you get what you want.”

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What ChatGPT can do for tax planners

● Write emails to clients

● Transpose a list of client requirements into emails automatically

● Record booking of meeting time by client in a spreadsheet automatically

● Account map P&Ls from different entities in a group

● Walk you through how to use Zapier effectively.

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