A senior partner at KPMG Australia has been fined A$10,000 after investigators determined they used artificial intelligence to complete an internal training assessment, a case that forms part of a wider pattern of staff misusing AI in compliance exams. According to reporting by The Guardian and corroborating accounts in other outlets, more than two dozen employees at the firm have been identified as having relied on AI tools to answer internal tests since July.

KPMG discovered the incidents using its own AI-detection systems and has said it will record and disclose the total number of breaches when it announces annual results. Media coverage indicates the majority of the cases involved staff at manager level or below, while the single partner fined self-reported the matter to professional regulators and is the highest-profile sanction so far.

The episode has reignited scrutiny of exam integrity across the accounting sector, where regulators and professional bodies are grappling with rapid adoption of generative tools. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants has already moved to require in-person sittings for some exams, warning that AI has reached a "tipping point" that outpaces many existing safeguards. Industry commentary on social networks has also criticised traditional testing designs as ill-suited to an environment where AI is widely available.

KPMG’s Australia chief executive, Andrew Yates, acknowledged the difficulty of policing internal assessments as staff increasingly use such tools, saying: "Like most organisations, we have been grappling with the role and use of AI as it relates to internal training and testing. It’s a very hard thing to get on top of given how quickly society has embraced it." He added: "Given the everyday use of these tools, some people breach our policy. We take it seriously when they do. We are also looking at ways to strengthen our approach in the current self-reporting regime."

The episode sits against a longer history of exam-related sanctions in the profession. Regulators in multiple jurisdictions have previously imposed significant fines and disciplinary measures on accounting firms and former partners for sharing answers or otherwise undermining internal testing, cases that watchdogs say pose risks to auditor independence and public trust.

KPMG has signalled it will tighten its monitoring and adapt training and assessment methods to account for AI, while continuing to encourage staff to incorporate the technology in client work. The firm’s global AI workforce lead has framed AI competence as a performance measure, saying: "We all have a responsibility to be bringing AI to all of our work." The tension between mandating AI use for business advantage and preventing its misuse in assessment remains a live challenge for the industry.

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Source: Noah Wire Services