Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assess the benefits, challenges and regulatory considerations of the potential integration of artificial intelligence in auditing practice within firms.

The Financial Reporting Council has conducted outreach with its regulated communities, establishing a Technology & Digital Steering Group, publishing work on the use of technology and committing to “promote improvement and innovation”. Overall, its view is that use of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools by those for which it has regulatory responsibility presents potential opportunities for quality improvements, though there are risks which require mitigation. The FRC continues to work on initiatives to support the safe use of these tools by audit firms, based on the principles in the Government's March 2023 white paper, “AI regulation: a pro-innovation approach”.