Piloting the application of AI in auditing activities
The leader of the State Audit emphasized that the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to auditing activities is an inevitable trend and needs to be done immediately.
Applying artificial intelligence is an inevitable trend
On the morning of April 3, at the headquarters of the State Audit Office (SA), an online conference was held on the pilot application of artificial intelligence (AI) to auditing activities and some activities of the Sector. State Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan chaired the conference.
The conference was attended directly by Deputy State Audit Heads: Doan Anh Tho, Ha Thi My Dung, Bui Quoc Dung and leaders of units under the State Audit... Participating at the regional State Audit bridge points were heads of units and a number of civil servants, auditors...
At the Conference, Mr. Pham Huy Thong - Deputy Director in charge of the IT Department said that the digital transformation process in Vietnam is currently taking place strongly, especially in provinces and cities across the country. State agencies have been implementing data digitalization with key steps including: editing, digitizing, entering data, creating a database and other related stages. This is an important part of the national digital transformation strategy to improve the efficiency of administrative management and information storage.
According to the 2025 Audit Plan, the State Audit will conduct a thematic audit on investment, application of information technology software, and information technology service rental activities to serve digital transformation in localities in the period of 2021-2024, in the provinces of Ha Nam, Quang Binh, Da Nang, Quang Ngai, Dien Bien, Phu Yen, Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang, Nam Dinh, Dak Lak, Dong Nai, Binh Thuan, Binh Phuoc. Currently, the IT Department has piloted the implementation of automatic auditing applying AI for digital packages in these localities.
According to Mr. Pham Huy Thong, every year, a large number of digital packages are implemented by state agencies. The IT Department has used Automatic Robots to collect data from the National Bidding Network System to collect data for AI training. Through the pilot inspection of these packages, the AI system has issued a number of assessments, this information can support auditors in their auditing work in the coming time.
The IT Department analyzed that applying AI in auditing digital records is said to have many advantages, specifically: Increasing the speed of document testing, thereby checking all bidding packages, providing support issues for sample selection. According to the assessment, if fully invested in infrastructure, AI can check thousands of records per day. The application of AI also helps to fully update legal regulations on the issue of inspection and unification in calculating norms. The dossier is not only compared with legal norms but also compared with other dossiers nationwide to make assessments.
To ensure continued AI training and testing the application of AI in auditing activities, the IT Department has made a number of proposals to apply AI in auditing digital packages.
Specifically, applying AI in checking all digital packages according to the thematic audit outline: investment, application of information technology software, information technology service rental activities to serve digital transformation in localities in the period of 2021-2024.
However, Mr. Pham Huy Thong also commented that the application of AI in auditing digital packages still faces many difficulties and challenges, so the reporting results need to be considered before choosing samples and discussing with audited subjects.
There needs to be coordination between audit teams and auditors to train AI Agent to " become smarter" as: explain the contents that AI Agent has pointed out; provide information that auditors discover but AI Agent does not discover; provide additional valid specialized regulations...
The operation of AI Agent consumes huge resources, so in the pilot process, without adequate infrastructure investment, there may not be enough resources for analyzing a large number of records and a large number of users.
Urgently deploy digital signatures, standardize data
At the Conference, Deputy State Auditor General Doan Anh Tho gave some notes: First, it is recommended that the IT Department coordinate with a number of units to directly pilot this work. During the pilot implementation, problems will arise that need to be resolved. Second, for the application of AI, there is currently no connection technology and infrastructure guaranteed, so this problem should be solved soon.
Agreeing with the opinion of Deputy State Auditor General Doan Anh Tho, Deputy State Auditor General Ha Thi My Dung also stated that the application of AI is an inevitable trend. However, this is a pilot phase, so it will be both working and drawing experience, so creating a forum to discuss and share problems or experiences together to improve it is extremely necessary.
Deputy State Auditor General Bui Quoc Dung also emphasized that this is a pilot phase, so during the implementation process, it will be both done and completed. In addition, the IT Department is ready to send human resources to coordinate with units to support and guide. Also answering questions from some units about whether the inspection and review results of AI and auditors may be different, Deputy State Auditor General Bui Quoc Dung reaffirmed: AI is only capable of detecting problems and making recommendations, each auditor will still be the one to review and re-examine all results.
Concluding the Conference, State Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan emphasized: In the current era of the 4.0 industrial revolution, the application of information technology and digital transformation is an inevitable trend. Therefore, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to auditing activities and in some activities of the Industry is something that needs to be done immediately.
State Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan also said that in implementation, it is necessary to be very cautious and take steps. In the initial pilot phase, AI is a support tool to detect violations, helping auditors save time and improve audit quality. But at present, the conclusion of the auditor, the auditing team, and the audit team is still the final conclusion.
The State Auditor General also requested the Department of Auditing Regime and Quality Control to preside over and coordinate with units in the Industry to immediately draft a process on piloting AI in auditing activities, clarifying the rights and obligations of organizations and individuals participating in this process. In addition, the State Auditor General also requested that units must complete the work of standardizing digital signatures and standardizing data this April, contributing significantly to the success of applying AI to auditing activities.
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