The Risk of Technology Dominance in Using Digital Decision Aids in Assurance Engagements—Evidence from a Survey among Danish Auditors
调查725名丹麦审计师发现，经验不足、任务复杂、熟悉工具或认知一致时，审计师更依赖数字决策辅助工具，这可能导致过度依赖和技能退化，对初级审计师和行业技能发展产生负面影响。
SYNOPSIS Accounting firms continue to develop digital decision aids (DDAs) that reinforce consistent use of firms’ audit methodology and provide assurance for meeting regulator expectations. Firms actively promote use and reliance on DDAs, but relying on such systems risks over-reliance, impacting decision quality and heightening technology dominance. Surveying 725 Danish auditors, we sought to determine the level of reliance practicing auditors have on DDAs and understand how auditors experience these potentially deleterious effects in the field. Results show auditors rely more on DDAs when auditors are inexperienced, task complexity is high, there is familiarity with the DDA, and/or there is cognitive congruence. Junior auditors rely significantly more on DDAs than senior auditors, whereas auditors indicating low usage rely significantly less on DDAs. Overall, senior auditors and auditors not heavily using DDAs have deskilling concerns and are less positive on junior auditors’ as well as the profession’s skill development when using DDAs. JEL Classifications: M15; M41; M42.