Can AI Ruin Professional Education?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Artificial intelligence is defined as the capability of computer systems or algorithms to imitate intelligent human behavior - the key word being “intelligent”. 

By now, almost everyone knows that AI works based on trained data which is a cumulation of actions of humans over the past many years whether good or bad. Now, who is to judge what is good or bad? 

Let’s take an example of a student who was on the phone with me, fretting and fuming that she had failed her CPA Regulation exam even though she had gone through all the questions in her “question bank” more than 3 times scoring an average of 90%. 

The “question bank” she used was given to her by a popular AI tool which generated pop quizzes for her anytime be it 7.30am on Wednesday or 1pm on Saturday and she had apparently convinced herself that she had mastered all topics of her syllabus as she got more than 90% in all quizzes- sometimes even 100%! 

So where had she gone wrong? 

The Good, Bad and the Ugly?

AI is quickly changing the way in which students consume educational content, revise and practice questions. 

The benefits cannot be denied - complex concepts simplified within seconds, study materials summarized instantly, practice questions generated indefinitely at minimal, or no cost and explanations adapted to different learning styles and levels of understanding - all at a moment’s reach. 

Nevertheless, an important but uncomfortable question must still be asked: Can AI be trusted when it comes to preparing for high stakes professional examinations responsible for creating auditors, Taxation experts or global CFOs of tomorrow? 

What is concerning is not the technology itself but in how it is being used by students preparing for professional examinations. 

Academic Guardrails Derailed

The above mentioned student failed to consider that while she mastered topics such as ethics and professional responsibilities which accounted for 10 to 20% weightage, she did not master or even fully cover federal taxation of entities which weighs 23-32% of the exam! What she naively didn’t realize is the absence of academic guardrails in her AI tool. 

Unlike structured exam prep courses created by experienced academicians and subject matter experts, most AI platforms are not built around a specific examination blueprint. Hence, only relying on AI may create a dangerous imbalance between effort and exam relevance moving far beyond the boundaries of the prescribed syllabus. 

Students also hit a blind spot when they ask AI tools to create hundreds of multiple-choice questions like grabbing free candies at a vending machine and then use their performance on these questions as an indicator of mastery. Professional certification examinations are deliberately designed around defined learning outcomes and competency frameworks. Sadly, a high score on AI-generated questions does not necessarily indicate a deep understanding of the underlying concepts. 

Students who spend excessive time exploring AI-generated content may unassumingly devote valuable study hours to topics that are either minimally tested or not examined at all. 

Too much of anything is bad - be it questions or free candies.

Hallucination – Hello, Citation!

An even more terrible character of AI is hallucination where it generates incorrect information with remarkable confidence much like in the case of Clinco v. Commissioner (T.C. Memo. 2026-16) where a taxpayer's attorney submitted a formal legal brief containing three completely fabricated, AI-hallucinated case citations (Cacchillo v. Commissioner, Miller v. Commissioner, and Tefel v. Commissioner) to argue that an IRS notice was invalid, which was later rebuked by Judge Mark V. Holmes, stating that the legal arguments collapsed like an “overmixed soufflé”. 

Now imagine a fresher using AI to study the concept of unreported income using these incorrect sections or worse misinterpreted accounting standards and fabricated explanations. 

Unlike traditional educational resources that undergo extensive editorial review, students must not accept this information without verification and must treat them as a starting point rather than a definitive source of truth. 

Familiarity Breeds Contempt 

In cases where students use too much AI to study, they become excessively familiar with the wordings and structure of these repeated questions and end up choosing “correct” answers because they master the patterns subconsciously rather than the concepts. 

For example, students now know how to avoid answers with extremes such as ‘should not’ or ‘must have’ or answers that are longer or shorter than other multiple choice answers. 

Certification examinations are designed to test analysis, application, judgment, and professional reasoning. Differentiating between recognition and understanding is important to break this illusion of preparedness. 

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

Students have enough student loans to pay, but that cannot be compensated by using free or inexpensive AI tools which on the surface, even if it appears to be an efficient and economical solution. It does not have the carefully curated content, validated learning pathways and years of instructional expertise on which professional certification examinations are built upon. 

When official study materials are replaced entirely with AI-generated content, important topics may be overlooked, while less important topics may receive disproportionate attention without the right guidance from instructors, mentors, or established review programs. Therefore, students may be underprepared because critical areas were never studied.

A Total Write Off? 

While the concerns are real, this does not mean AI is suddenly the evil technology villain in a spiderman movie. AI can easily become one of the most powerful learning assistants ever created when it is used appropriately. 

Complex accounting standards can be simplified into everyday language. Alternative examples can be requested when textbook explanations are not immediately understood. 

The future of professional education cannot be defined by a choice between traditional learning and artificial intelligence anymore. Instead, success depends on the ability to integrate both approaches responsibly.  

The message is simple - it’s all about the right balance.

Akhila Chandrashekar is a qualified CPA, CMA, CIA, CFE with over 18 years of experience in Audit and Taxation practice in organizations such as EY & PKF and over 5 years in Professional education. She currently serves as the Chief Learning Officer at Hock International, overseeing the learning and Exam Preparation strategies for the CMA, CIA and EA credentials in more than 100 countries. She is also pursuing her doctoral research at ARKA JAIN University examining the opportunities and challenges educators face in using artificial intelligence in higher education. The intersection of these experiences - accounting practice, professional education, and academic research into AI gives her the vantage point to understand the growth and development of the next generation of accounting professionals.