“Alexa, Write an Audit Opinion”: Adopting Intelligent Virtual Assistants in Accounting Workplaces

Abstract

In recent years, there has been exponential growth in the volume of “always listening” intelligent virtual assistant devices used in the home. The adoption of intelligent virtual assistants is also moving rapidly into applications and devices utilized by businesses, including accounting workplaces. Although there are highly publicized drawbacks related to the home-use of this technology, the benefits of this spoken interface are many. Therefore, it is important to review the relevant literature, such as Altman's (1975) regulation of interpersonal barriers, Nissenbaum's (2010) notions of contextual integrity, the privacy paradox (Norberg et al. 2007), and Eyal's (2014) work on habit-forming products, to help understand the concerns related to the adoption of these assistants. This paper will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these interfaces, imagine how accountants might use these devices in the near future, examine the challenges of adopting digital assistants, and provide recommendations for future research.

Alexa, what do we know about conversational commerce? Insights from a systematic literature review

“…Conversational commerce has wide applications across industries such as banking, education, entertainment, healthcare, and hospitality (Bolton et al, 2018; Botanalytics, 2018; De Keyser et al, 2019; Lester et al, 2004). Innovations on designing conversational agents for insurance (Riikkinen et al, 2018), transportation and logistics (Hsiao & Chang, 2019), language learning (Dizon, 2017; Fryer et al, 2017), driving assistance (Large et al, 2017), and accounting (Burns & Igou, 2019) have also shown utility in providing customer services in ways that lead to efficient and effective customer experiences and outcomes. However, different conversational agents exist, and the same can be said about industries and service offerings.…”

“…Conversational commerce has wide applications across industries such as banking, education, entertainment, healthcare, and hospitality (Bolton et al, 2018;Botanalytics, 2018;De Keyser et al, 2019;Lester et al, 2004). Innovations on designing conversational agents for insurance (Riikkinen et al, 2018), transportation and logistics (Hsiao & Chang, 2019), language learning (Dizon, 2017;Fryer et al, 2017), driving assistance (Large et al, 2017), and accounting (Burns & Igou, 2019) have also shown utility in providing customer services in ways that lead to efficient and effective customer experiences and outcomes. However, different conversational agents exist, and the same can be said about Voice assistants have proliferated increasingly as a result of the emergence of smart speakers, and together, they ease life and form contemporary lifestyles by facilitating various technology-mediated tasks such as ordering food, playing music, and searching a query on the internet, and thus, giving rise to a new form of communication between brands and customers (Smith, 2020).…”

“…For example, Riikkinen et al (2018) developed a conceptual framework to support value creation using chatbots in the case of insurance services, whereas Hsiao and Chang (2019) documented the opportunities that conversational agents create for logistics and transportation services, and Large et al (2017) highlighted the value of in‐vehicle digital voice assistants in enhancing the driver's experience (Large et al, 2017). Other scholars such as Burns and Igou (2019) reviewed the literature to understand the usage of voice assistants in accounting and offered suggestions for designing domain‐specific voice assistants in the future, whereas scholars such as Zhou et al (2020) documented the development of a social chatbot by Microsoft called XiaoIce to satisfy the human need for affection, companionship, and communication, and thus, showing that conversational agents can also offer hedonic value like social companionship for humans besides utilitarian value relating to learning and task performance.…”

From Amazon.com to Amazon.love: How Alexa is redefining companionship and interdependence for people with special needs

“…Competing with companies such as Apple and Google, Amazon was still able to lead the market of conversational agents with around 70% market share (Sciuto et al, 2018). Most businesses started integrating intelligent virtual assistants into their software and electronics (Burns & Igou, 2019). IPAs like Alexa have not only changed the workplace, but also the way people live in their homes.…”

The effects of person‐specific, task, and environmental factors on digital transformation and innovation in auditing: A review of the literature

“… Audit firms invest in more advanced data analytic tools, such as augmented and autonomous AI (see Burns & Igou, 2019). How will these tools impact the nature, extent, and timing of the audit process?…”