Factors Influencing Statutory Auditors' Perception of the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Auditing

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly advancing field that aims to create intelligent entities capable of performing tasks that would typically require human intelligence. It has become an integral part of our lives, impacting various sectors and industries, offering immense potential and posing challenges, such as on its responsible and ethical use. The integration of AI in auditing has the potential to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of audit processes. Thus, this study examines the familiarity, utilization, and perceptions of AI technologies among Portuguese Statutory Auditors through a questionnaire survey and contributes to the understanding of how these factors influence the auditing profession. The survey design is aligned with the research questions aimed at capturing a demographic profilewhile assessing AI technologies' usage and perception. Descriptive and inferential statistics, including hypothesis testing, analyze the survey data to discern trends and influencers on auditors' engagement with AI. The results reveal disparities between auditors' awareness and actual application of AI in audit practices, identifying a prevalent underutilization, notably with exceptions such as Robotic Process Automation which exhibited the highest occasional use. Further statistical analysis reveals that gender, age, and educational qualifications significantly influence both the frequency of use and the importance ascribed to AI technologies in audit tasks. Age emerges as the primary influencing factor, although gender and educational qualifications were significant for some technologies.