In an accountancy-first, Open Tuition has added an âAsk the AI Tutorâ service function to its website.
For each ACCA paper students will now be able to type in questions and receive an instant answer from a computer.
The Open Tuition AI is also certainly more accurate (and faster) than freely available ChatGPT, because it is using the knowledge database that accountancy tutors have created, as opposed to simply trawling the internet for anything it might think relevant.
Open Tuition founder John Moffat told PQ magazine Open Tuition will look to expand the service to CIMA students, depending on the response from students. However, he felt there is no reason why CIMA students should not use the ACCA service given much of the knowledge needed is the same.
He explained: âThe results have been astonishing. For written questions it is coming up with almost 100% accurate answers in easy to understand English. When asked to calculate questions, then for objective test questions, again it is remarkable how accurate the answers are (and it explains the workings)!â
Moffat admits for full advanced calculation questions âit is understandably not quite as goodâ.
He said that when he copied into the AI a few full 50-mark past AFM questions the answers to the written section have been remarkable good. The answers to the calculation parts, which commonly require reading a full page of information and then using various different formulae to arrive at the solution, have been impressive too. But the AI has not always arrived at the correct final answer. But, the AI was able to explain each of the workings as it performed them and the resulting answer would without doubt have achieved high marks in the exam.
He stressed students should not think using this new resource as some sort of quick and easy way of passing exams. Students still need to study and practice just as they do now. âThe purpose of the AI is to give them instant 24/7 help on issues that they have problems understanding,â he said.
Inevitably there will be students simply typing in test questions to get answers, however Moffat believes this is not a great approach to success. âThey should still be using revision kits and remember the AI canât be used in their exams, they have to do the work then!â
He emphasised that Open Tuition cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, and pointed out that the AI will not replace Open Tuitionâs existing Ask the Tutor Forums, where students get personal replies to their questions from tutors. Moffat sees the AI function as giving students even more help in getting explanations on areas with which they are struggling.
This latest move will surely put pressure on all the accountancy bodies to add AI features to their own platforms.
Check out the Ask the AI Tutor at: https://opentuition.com/acca/ask-acca-ai-tutor/
