The role of Large Language Models (LLMs) in auditing: Its Implications for Audit Quality in Global South

About the Project

Project Details

Auditing is being reshaped by Artificial Intelligence. The world’s largest audit firms are already deploying Artificial Intelligence tools powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) to support core auditing tasks. While there is growing debate about the implications for professional judgement, critical questions remain about audit quality, accountability, and governance-particularly beyond the well-resourced institutional environments of Global South.

This fully funded PhD project explores how AI is transforming the foundations of audit quality: how it is defined, how it is evaluated, who is responsible for it, and how it can be safeguarded when human expertise and AI systems interact. The project investigates audit quality as an outcome increasingly shaped by the interaction between auditors’ professional judgement and algorithmic tools. The project conceptualises audit quality as an increasingly co-produced outcome, emerging from the interplay between professional judgement and algorithmic evaluation.

Crucially, the project adopts a global and context-sensitive perspective, focusing on the Global South. In these settings, variations in regulatory oversight, governance structures, digital infrastructure, and professional capacity shape how LLM technologies are adopted and used in practice. These institutional differences raise important questions about whether and how audit quality can be maintained under conditions of uneven technological readiness and enforcement.

The research combines qualitative fieldwork-including interviews with auditors, regulators, and empirical evaluation of AI capabilities. The latter involves evaluating LLM performance on audit-relevant tasks derived from regulatory inspection reports and auditing standards, assessing whether and under what conditions AI outputs align with established definitions of audit quality.

This hybrid design offers a rare opportunity to engage with both policy and practice. You will contribute to ongoing debates on AI governance and audit regulation while also working directly with state-of-the-art generative AI systems.

This is an opportunity to produce research that genuinely matters-to regulators, the auditing profession, and the many stakeholders who rely on high-quality audited financial information.

Person Specification

The successful applicant should hold, or expect to achieve:

A First or Upper Second Class Honours undergraduate degree, and a Masters degree with Merit or Distinction, both in relevant subjects.

Qualifications from overseas institutions will be considered, but performance must be equivalent to that described above, and the University reserves the right to ascertain this equivalence according to its own criteria.

Desirable / Essential Skills or Experience

Required characteristics

• Relevant disciplines include Accounting, Finance, Business Management, Computing, Data Science, or related fields with substantial focus on Artificial Intelligence, digitalisation, or data analytics.
• Demonstrated interest in the intersection of AI, auditing, governance, or regulation.

Desirable characteristics

• Membership of, or progress towards membership of, a recognised professional accountancy body (e.g. ACCA, CIMA, ICAEW).
• Academic or research background in sociology or social policy, particularly in areas related to technology, institutions, or governance.
• Experience with qualitative research methods (e.g. interviews, fieldwork) and/or empirical analysis.
• Familiarity with AI tools, machine learning, or Large Language Models.
• Interest in global or comparative research, particularly in Global South contexts.

Submitting an application

We can only consider applications that are complete and have all supporting documents. Applications that do not provide all the relevant documents will be automatically rejected.Your application must include:

1. English language copies of the transcripts and certificates for all your higher education degrees, including any Bachelor degrees.
2. A Research Statement detailing your understanding of the research area, how you would approach the project, and a brief review of relevant literature. Be sure to use the title of the research project you are applying for. There is no set format or word count.
3. A personal statement which outlines any further information which you think is relevant to your application, such as your personal suitability for research, career aspirations, possible future research interests, and further description of relevant employment experience.
4. A Curriculum Vitae (Resume) which details your education and work history.
5. Two academic refereeswho can discuss your suitability for independent research. References must be on headed paper, signed and dated no more than 2 years old. At least one reference should be from your most recent University. You can submit your references at a later date if necessary.
6. Evidence that you meet the English Language requirements. If you do not currently meet the language requirements, you can submit this at a later stage.
7. A copy of your passport. Where relevant, include evidence of settled or pre-settled status.

Contact Information

For enquiries about this project, contact g.salijeni@aston.ac.uk

Location

This position will be based on the Aston Campus in Birmingham, UK. The successful candidate will need to be located within a reasonable distance of the campus, and will be expected to visit in person regularly.

Funding Notes

This project covers all tuition fees and includes an annual stipend.

Please note that the successful candidate will be responsible for any costs relating to moving to Birmingham and/or visiting the Aston campus. International students must meet the financial requirements for the visa, flights, and NHS Surcharge. Applicants should be confident that they can meet these costs before applying.

Project supervisors

Dr George Salijeni

Dr George Salijeni 's profile is coming soon

Dr Xia Li

Dr Xia Li's profile is coming soon