Increasing demand for audit coverage of AI-related risks

According to a survey conducted by Gartner, the rapid growth and usage of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has led to a significant surge in the demand for comprehensive audit coverage of AI-related risks.

In August 2023, Gartner surveyed 102 chief audit executives (CAEs) to assess the importance of providing assurance across 35 different risks. Among the top six risks likely to receive increased audit coverage, three were AI-related: AI-enabled cyberthreats, AI control failures, and unreliable outputs from AI models.

Thomas Teravainen, a research specialist at Gartner, highlights, “there are a range of AI-related risks that organisations face from control failures and unreliable outputs to advanced cyberthreats. Half of the top six risks with the greatest increase in audit coverage are AI-related.”

Teravainen points out that Gartner’s findings reveal a lack of confidence among internal auditors in effectively managing AI risks. He explains, “No more than 11% of respondents rating one of the aforementioned three top AI-related risks as very important considered themselves very confident in providing assurance over it.”

This lack of confidence stems from the fact that GenAI applications introduce a wide range of new and heightened risks for data security, privacy, intellectual property protection, copyright infringement, and the trustworthiness of outputs.

Nonetheless, addressing these AI-related risks has become more critical than ever for companies to shield themselves from reputational harm or potential legal repercussions.

“However, with CEOs and CFOs rating AI as the technology that will most significantly impact their organisations in the next three years, continued gaps in confidence will undermine CAEs’ ability to meet stakeholder expectations,” Teravainen concludes.

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