As developments, standards and controversy around Artificial Intelligence (AI) explodes, compelling new groups are emerging that will drive expansion and implementation of AI at a new pace and depth. However, one such exclusive, burgeoning collective entitled #AIShowbiz Executive Roundtable is making particular moves. This Roundtable is one of the first business communities in the country solely dedicated to the intersection of AI and the entertainment industry, and it has powerful plans for 2018. In fact, the #AIShowbiz Executive Roundtable is an ancillary property of the larger #AIShowbiz Summit which actually just completed its second-year of panels and keynotes with various influencers in AI from around the world during a day-long conference in Los Angeles, California. The overall #AIShowbiz organization is founded and helmed by Molly Lavik, creator of MentorInsight, a media and market development company.

Every year, the AICPA and CPA.com gather top executives from the accounting software vendor community along with accountants, media members, and thought leaders. Over the course of a couple of days, attendees hear from experts and discuss the future of technology and how the vendors can work with CPAs -- and even one another -- in innovative ways to move forward together. Executive Roundtable took place recently in New York, and I was privileged to attend as one of the invited thought leaders. This year's event had a laser focus on audit and compliance services, covering topics such as data-driven audits powered by artificial intelligence and how to create more future-proof firms. At the roundtable, AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, referenced the 2018 World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report, which lists accountants and auditors (as well as accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll clerks) among the jobs most likely to decline due to automation.

Companies can be easily dazzled by their newest workers, the chatbots. They never complain or get sick. And they don't ask for raises. But companies can be just as easily disappointed when customers become frustrated by opaque and time-consuming interactions with the bots. It's not the bots' fault, said a panel of artificial intelligence experts at a recent Executive Roundtable hosted by Earley Information Science (EIS), a leading consulting firm focused on organizing information for business impact.

A man walks through the Watson Premier display to learn about IBM Watson at CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 9, 2018. As developments, standards and controversy around Artificial Intelligence (AI) explodes, compelling new groups are emerging that will drive expansion and implementation of AI at a new pace and depth. However, one such exclusive, burgeoning collective entitled #AIShowbiz Executive Roundtable is making particular moves. This Roundtable is one of the first business communities in the country solely dedicated to the intersection of AI and the entertainment industry, and it has powerful plans for 2018. In fact, the #AIShowbiz Executive Roundtable is an ancillary property of the larger #AIShowbiz Summit which actually just completed its second-year of panels and keynotes with various influencers in AI from around the world during a day-long conference in Los Angeles, California.

A man walks through the Watson Premier display to learn about IBM Watson at CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 9, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / DAVID MCNEW (Photo credit should read DAVID MCNEW/AFP/Getty Images) As developments, standards and controversy around Artificial Intelligence (AI) explodes, compellin...

A man walks through the Watson Premier display to learn about IBM Watson at CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 9, 2018. As developments, standards and controversy around Artificial Intelligence (AI) explodes, compelling new groups are emerging that will drive expansion and implementation of AI at a new pace and depth. However, one such exclusive, burgeoning collective entitled #AIShowbiz Executive Roundtable is making particular moves. This Roundtable is one of the first business communities in the country solely dedicated to the intersection of AI and the entertainment industry, and it has powerful plans for 2018. In fact, the #AIShowbiz Executive Roundtable is an ancillary property of the larger #AIShowbiz Summit which actually just completed its second-year of panels and keynotes with various influencers in AI from around the world during a day-long conference in Los Angeles, California.

A man walks through the Watson Premier display to learn about IBM Watson at CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 9, 2018. As developments, standards and controversy around Artificial Intelligence (AI) explodes, compelling new groups are emerging that will drive expansion and implementation of AI at a new pace and depth. However, one such exclusive, burgeoning collective entitled #AIShowbiz Executive Roundtable is making particular moves. This Roundtable is one of the first business communities in the country solely dedicated to the intersection of AI and the entertainment industry, and it has powerful plans for 2018. In fact, the #AIShowbiz Executive Roundtable is an ancillary property of the larger #AIShowbiz Summit which actually just completed its second-year of panels and keynotes with various influencers in AI from around the world during a day-long conference in Los Angeles, California.