Robo-Accountants, Robo-Auditors, or Humanoid Professionals? Accounting Education and the Redefinition of the Human Role in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

The paper aims to investigate how recent developments in the field of artificial intelligence are influencing accounting education, transforming the role of the accounting professional in a context dominated by automation and algorithmic analysis. The research examines the dual impact of artificial intelligence, on university training processes and on the skills demanded by the labor market, based on a critical review of the published literature and empirical data obtained through a survey applied to economics students. The results indicate a gap between the pace of integrating emerging technologies and curriculum revision, and the need to develop accounting education augmented by artificial intelligence, focused on professional reasoning, critical thinking, creativity, and digital ethics. The concept of “robo-accountant” extends human expertise, while the “roboauditor” supports decisions without replacing judgment. The study contributes to defining a training model oriented toward human–AI collaboration, in which technological skills complement, without replacing, human discernment and responsibility.