Generative AI, Machine Learning, and Large Language Model Technology Show Promise, but Gartner Experts Say Some Assurance Leaders Expect Too Much Too Soon
“Some assurance leaders are prematurely expecting AI technology to greatly enhance productivity,” said Weston Wicks, senior director analyst in the Gartner Legal & Compliance Practice. “While these technologies show promise, in the near-term Gartner recommends assurance leaders identify where they can pilot and experiment with them while maintaining healthy skepticism as they are implemented.”
Accordingly, Gartner experts have placed AI in the Assurance Practice at the Peak of Inflated Expectations in the 2024 Hype Cycle for Legal, Risk, Compliance and Audit technologies (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Hype Cycle for Legal, Risk, Compliance and Audit Technologies, 2024
Source: Gartner (November 2024)
“If they haven’t already, assurance leaders should be paying closest attention to more mature innovations near the Plateau of Productivity, such as corporate legal operations technology, contract life cycle management and privacy management tools that can likely deliver more immediate productivity gains,” said Wicks.
While there are some expectations that the advancements in GenAI will be transformative in assurance, Gartner experts caution that early adopters must acknowledge the risks of these new advancements and their impact on teams’ ability to manage them.
“Early lessons learned by assurance leaders include understanding the importance of information management and data governance, and the importance of intentionally including humans in the loop to mitigate bias and other risks,” said Wicks. “For these reasons, Gartner estimates the innovations will achieve high benefit ratings across the next five years.
