Once a make-believe trope confined to science fiction shelves, artificial intelligence (AI) is now a prevalent change-maker in global commerce. To understand AI today is to harness it to your advantage as the world increases its reliance on it.
AI and machine learning are fascinating developments integral to the Certified Global Management Accountant (CGMA®) designation syllabus.
Along with technical, people, business, and leadership skills, digital skills form the five competencies of the CGMA Competency Framework. CGMA candidates cultivate their abilities in all five areas to be competitive in today's job market.
Machine learning and AI
Although the two may seem interchangeable, machine learning and AI are separate entities.
AI concerns developing machines capable of replicating cognitive functions displayed in humans, such as computer programming, problem-solving, and language comprehension.
Machine learning is part of a much broader umbrella of AI. It is a subset that enhances AI's capabilities through algorithmic developmental models and data analysis. As a management accountant, harnessing AI will benefit your role as an organisational change-maker, reduce less meaningful tasks, and ultimately boost your productivity.
Some examples include using AI to generate financial reports by using natural language processing (NLP) software, automating your data collection strategies by harnessing the power of the machine to categorise data, exploiting predictive analytic models to discover buying habits, and, perhaps most importantly for management accountants, enhancing overall cost-optimisation through identifying where cost reductions in the organisation are most economically viable.
Companies like Amazon and Netflix rely on machine learning to analyse consumer patterns to predict future purchases.
The emergence of advanced computer programs, including the OpenAI platform ChatGPT, has elevated chatbot functions to a compelling level. AI platforms create answers to general queries by harvesting data streams on the World Wide Web.
As medical breakthroughs go in healthcare, AI can safeguard high-risk patients from certain diseases, decreasing the likelihood of extensive healthcare costs and help medical practitioners do their jobs more effectively and efficiently.
AI is also particularly prevalent in cybersecurity services. From detecting irregular spending patterns and possible fraudulent activity, management accountants may sometimes liaise with their firm's information technology (IT) department. This could take the form of a qualitative cost-benefit analysis approach to investing in the best and most affordable cybersecurity services while evaluating the potential economic ramifications of a cyber-attack.
Pervasive, revolutionary, game-changing
AI's rise is nothing short of astonishing. While ChatGPT took the world by storm, the global AI space goes far beyond one AI platform, with the overall market expected to rise to $360 billion by 2028.
The presence of AI across businesses and industries is only growing as computer processing power and technology improve.
As more and more finance professionals rely on AI, machine learning, and automation in their everyday working lives, studying for the CGMA designation will prepare you to use those resources strategically, whether for your own business or your employer.
Learn more about the CGMA designation today.
