A Demonstration of How ChatGPT and Generative AI Can be Used in the Internal Auditing Process

Abstract

For the past several years, internal audit functions (IAFs) have been significantly increasing their digitization efforts to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the IAF. The introduction of OpenAI’s ChatGPT has increased the potential for IAFs to have a more significant impact; however, there is little guidance on how ChatGPT or other generative AI (GenAI) tools can influence the day-to-day work of internal auditors. This paper demonstrates with specific examples how GenAI can be used to enhance all aspects of the audit process for a broad variety of IAFs. Although not comprehensive in nature, the detailed, illustrative examples should help internal auditors see actionable steps they can take to be more efficient and effective and thus add more value to their organizations. Finally, this paper helps researchers to identify potential avenues for future research. Data Availability: The data used in this study are available upon request from the authors.