Will AI replace auditors?
No. AI will replace a meaningful amount of manual audit work, but it will not replace the accountability, judgement and professional scepticism of the auditor.
Audit is not simply a production process. Auditors decide what matters, respond to contradictory evidence, understand incentives, challenge management and take responsibility for an opinion. Those responsibilities remain with people and firms even when technology performs more of the underlying procedures. The FRC has made the same principle explicit: technology may change, but firms and Responsible Individuals remain accountable for audit quality.
What will change is the shape of the work. Auditors should spend less time copying information between files, reformatting client evidence, drawing process maps and preparing repetitive first drafts. They should spend more time reviewing exceptions, applying judgement, understanding the business and having useful conversations with clients.
The firms that benefit most will not treat AI as a substitute for professional capability. They will use it to give good auditors more leverage and to make high-quality methods easier to apply consistently across the whole practice.
References: FRC on accountability for AI-assisted audit quality · IAASB professional scepticism resources