Accounting Research in the Age of AI

Recent developments in artificial intelligence raise fundamental questions about the future of academic accounting research. Using insights from institutional theory, existing institutional structures, and interviews with senior editors and PhD program chairs, we examine how AI advancements may transform accounting research and its supporting institutions. Our analysis highlights four key findings. First, we identify two dimensions where humans can maintain advantages over AI: higher-order reasoning skills and control over data access. AI may reshape research methods and topics based on these advantages, making quantitative studies where neither dimension offers strong protection from AI particularly vulnerable to competition. Second, AI may challenge traditional publishing processes, as lengthy review times risk making research obsolete in a rapidly evolving field. Third, AI may transform doctoral education by emphasizing selection and training of students along the two dimensions where humans can maintain advantages over AI. Fourth and last, these changes may be shaped by broader institutional forces, such as major publishers whose standardized platforms and policies may not fully serve accounting research needs. While our analysis assumes gradual AI progress allowing time for adaptation, we also consider scenarios of faster AI advancement that could create more dramatic disruption. Our findings suggest that accounting research institutions appear remarkably unprepared for these changes.