Exploring Generative AI in Accounting: Information Production and Consumption

Abstract

Recent advances in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) are changing how various participants in capital markets produce, disseminate, and consume information. This paper synthesizes key themes in the emerging accounting literature on artificial intelligence (AI) and uses them to discuss six studies presented at the 2025 Journal of Accounting Research (JAR) Conference. These studies provide early evidence on GenAI’s impact across the lifecycle of information production and consumption: (1) its role in producing information, such as preparing regulatory filings, recording accounting transactions, and generating reports for capital market intermediaries, (2) its use by investors in consuming information and the resulting market consequences, as well as (3) the limitations and biases of GenAI models, and potential solutions. To organize these insights, we situate these papers in a two-part taxonomy of AI in accounting research – AI as a tool and AI as a subject of inquiry – and propose an agenda for future research.

Keywords: Generative AI, Large Language Models, Artificial Intelligence, Capital Markets, Accounting Research

JEL Classification: M41, M40, O33