- A KPMG Australia partner was fined AUD 10,000 for cheating with AI in an AI test
- The partner used an external AI tool by uploading a training manual for answers
- KPMG CEO Andrew Yates acknowledged the difficulty of managing AI use in training
A senior partner at KPMG Australia has been fined AUD 10,000 (approximately $7,000 or Rs640,000) for using artificial intelligence (AI) to cheat in an internal training test on AI ethics, Financial Times reported. The partner, a registered company auditor whose identity wasn't revealed, uploaded a training manual into an external AI platform to generate answers for a mandatory assessment in July 2025.
KPMG Australia CEO Andrew Yates acknowledged the challenge of managing AI use. "Like most organisations, we have been grappling with the role and use of AI as it relates to internal training and testing," Yates said a quoted. "It's a very hard thing to get on top of given how quickly society has embraced it."
"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," he added.
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The partner was one of 28 staff members caught using AI tools to cheat on internal exams since July, as part of KPMG's efforts to monitor AI use. The firm's internal systems detected the activity in August, and an investigation determined the partner should be fined.
The report also mentioned that KPMG has adopted several measures to identify the use of AI by its staff. They said they will know more about the extent of usage of AI by its workers once they publish their annual results.
The issue, which was also discussed during a Senate inquiry, highlights the growing concern about AI misuse in professional settings, with all Big Four accounting firms facing penalties for cheating-related scandals in recent years.
With the rapid evolution of AI, governance and ethics are the two most important points to consider before developing, deploying and managing AI systems responsibly. The essential framework and moral guidelines for AI will also be discussed at the NDTV Ind.AI Summit, hosted by NDTV on February 18.
