CAG plans its own AI for fast writing of audit reports

Comptroller and Auditor General of India G C Murmu on Wednesday said the supreme audit institution is in the process of developing its own Artificial Intelligence (AI) protocol for faster writing of its audit reports.

"For data analysis and various other things, we have our own system in place...for the writing (audit reports) we have now started, so we have to see," he said here.

"Data is collected by our auditors at the field from the records...in some cases, we have to reclassify according to our requirement. For that we run analytics...cleaning is done through the analytics," he said.

Once cleaning of data is done and classification and integration made as per the requirement, he said, adding that algorithm biases are hardly there in analysing data.

He said about 35 audit reports would be tabled in both Parliament and state assemblies during the upcoming winter session.

About 200 reports are presented in a year by the office of CAG.

Speaking about 16th Assembly of the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI) here, Murmu said, the meeting approved various strategic and financial reports, including the mid-term report on ASOSAI's Strategic Plan 2022-2027, report on the results of the Bangkok Declaration 2021 and introduced new collaborations, research projects and regulatory reforms.

India has assumed the chairmanship of ASOSAI for the 2024-2027 term.

Key decisions included the approval of ASOSAI's financial statements and the adoption of plans to enhance collaboration among member Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) through capacity-building and the development of IT audit frameworks, he said.

A bilateral dialogue between SAI India and SAI Malaysia on public sector auditing and between SAI India and IDI on cooperation in the field of SDGs and emerging technologies also took place, he said.

The 16th ASOSAI Assembly symbolises a renewed commitment to cooperation and capacity-building among SAIs across Asia, he said, adding, it marks a turning point, with the assembly expected to conclude with the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration, which will lay the roadmap for future collaborations and innovations in public audit practices.

The leadership of India, as it assumes the chairmanship, promises to focus on technology-driven audits, and the audit of local bodies, he added.