AI-Blockchain Integration in Auditing: Accountability Trade-offs and the Compliance Trilemma
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65310/p751a804Keywords:
Accountability, AI–Blockchain Integration, Audit Assurance, Compliance Trilemma, Professional JurisdictionAbstract
This paper examines how the combined use of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain may change accountability in auditing, including professional judgement, liability allocation and the profession’s jurisdiction. An interpretive thematic synthesis of 270 academic, professional and regulatory documents (2015–2025) was conducted using Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis. The synthesis identifies three mechanisms: Intelligent Immutability, Automated Assurance and Verifiable Explainability. Their interaction suggests a Compliance Trilemma, offered as a conceptual proposition: transparency, data privacy and automation cannot all be maximised in the same system when personal data are stored on an unredactable ledger and automated actions require full data access in real time. Design choices such as permissioned ledgers and off-chain storage can ease these tensions but shift costs elsewhere. The framework has not yet been tested empirically. It offers researchers propositions for testing and helps practitioners make design trade-offs and the allocation of responsibility explicit.
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