Practical strategies for reinforcing accounting principles, ethical AI use, and sound judgment in financial and managerial accounting
Artificial intelligence is changing how accounting is taught, but the most effective instruction still depends on time tested principles. In today’s AI driven environment, students need accounting fundamentals to separate sound answers from confident fiction. If students cannot explain AI output, they cannot verify it. The goal is to move students from asking AI to checking AI.
Authors John J. Wild and Jonathan Wild share practical AI Error Detection activities that strengthen core skills while sharpening skepticism and professional judgment. Real introductory level examples illustrate where AI can go wrong, paired with targeted questions that help students identify and correct errors. Scenarios allow students to evaluate AI responses against foundational concepts, including autograding options designed for principles level and introductory financial and managerial accounting.
This approach demonstrates how AI functions best as a partner that reinforces, rather than replaces, accounting knowledge. The material provides plug and play resources that support thoughtful, ethical AI use while keeping students anchored in essential accounting principles.
John J. Wild is a distinguished professor of business and accounting at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Business.
His research interests include financial accounting and reporting, business analysis and valuation, international financial markets, corporate governance, and earnings quality. Professor Wild’s research articles appear in The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Review of Accounting and Finance, and other academic journals.
He has received numerous teaching awards from the Wisconsin School of Business as well as from Michigan State University. He has also taught at the University of Manchester, England.
He is past associate editor of Contemporary Accounting Research and serves on several editorial boards. Professor Wild is a frequent speaker at universities and national and international conferences, and is the author of several best-selling books in accounting and business.
Professor Wild earned his PhD in business from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Jonathan M. Wild, PhD, CPA, teaches across the accounting curriculum at both the undergraduate and MBA levels at the University of Wisconsin–Parkside. His courses include Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Auditing and Assurance Services, Individual and Corporate Taxation, Financial Statement Analysis, and Business Innovation. He is recognized for building clear, student-centered learning experiences, including designing and implementing multiple online, digital-first courses and creating course content that helps students connect accounting fundamentals to real business decisions.
Jonathan develops innovative teaching materials widely used by instructors and students. He created and maintains WildAccounting.com, which provides free educational resources for introductory financial and managerial accounting. He also produces studio-quality videos and designs innovative Tableau-based analytics and visualization learning resources, both of which are published by McGraw Hill. As a McGraw Hill digital author, he collaborates with author teams to build instructional resources and deliver faculty webinars on evolving reporting standards, education technology, and practical tools for teaching analytics and accounting. This includes presentations on changes to reporting rules and standards, the application of data analytics and visualization, and integrating online Excel applications into accounting. He is an active contributor to the profession, serving on the Board of the national TACTYC organization and regularly presenting on teaching innovation and emerging technology at conferences and faculty events.
Jonathan’s research sits at the intersection of accounting reporting, technology, and decision-making. Much of his research focuses on financial statement disclosure transparency, corporate social responsibility, managerial decision-making, accountability, and the use of data analytics and visualization in financial and managerial contexts. His published research appears in many academic journals, including Review of Accounting and Finance, Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance, Journal of Accounting, Business and Finance Research, and Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting. Current projects examine AI and its impact on accounting, going-concern audit opinions, and the accounting valuation of human capital.
Jonathan earned his PhD from Oklahoma State University (Dissertation: “Corporate Social Responsibility and Disclosure Transparency,” chaired by Dursun Delen) and received both his Master of Accountancy and BBA in Accounting and Information Systems from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is a Certified Public Accountant and previously worked in assurance services at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he worked on audits, including Fortune 500 engagements.