Trainees, school pupils and students have high hopes for AI: learn less, type less and still get good grades. Prof. Dr Claus Koss, lecturer at the Faculty of Business and Management at OTH Regensburg, had a freely available chatbot answer his questions on accounting and tax law – his verdict: mixed.
As part of a research project, Prof. Dr Claus Koss is investigating the possible applications of artificial intelligence in companies and its impact on business administration. He is starting with his areas of expertise: accounting, tax law, business taxation and auditing. The first test for a freely available chatbot: the exams he set in accounting and tax law after the 25/26 winter semester
Findings from the experiment
The professor's observation: ‘The chatbot took longer than the students.’ Ninety minutes were allocated for the questions – one-fifth of the students needed less time. With the chatbot, Koss needed just under two hours – ‘It's quicker to look up the law,’ says the business professor, ‘if you know where to look,’ he adds with a wink. He had to keep asking the chatbot questions to get a clear answer.
‘The simple questions were no problem,’ he reports. The AI reliably mastered standard questions and typical trick questions. However, as soon as a tax case had to be assessed holistically, a different picture emerged: in some cases, several follow-up questions were necessary to arrive at an appropriate solution. Without these clarifications, the results would have been incorrect.
The business administration professor's conclusion from the test results: ‘Chatbots are suitable for getting started with learning or for getting additional ideas,’ says Claus Koss. But for the subjects of accounting and tax law, the following still applies: ‘A look at the law makes it easier to find the right legal solution – and that means learning in a completely analogue way
