A senior partner at KPMG Australia has been fined A$10,000 (roughly Rs 9 Lakh) after being caught using artificial intelligence to cheat on an internal training exam, ironically, a course focused on AI itself. According to a report by the Financial Times, the unnamed partner uploaded training material into an AI tool to generate exam answers.
He was later asked to retake the test. KPMG confirmed the incident and said it was identified using its own AI detection systems.
KPMG Australia AI Cheating Exposes Ongoing Governance Issues
This incident is not an isolated one. KPMG Australia admitted that more than two dozen employees have been caught using AI to game internal exams since July this financial year.
The firm said its internal monitoring systems flagged suspicious activity, leading to further checks. While AI has made cheating easier and faster, the core issue is not new.
In 2021, KPMG Australia was fined A$615,000 after over 1,100 partners were found sharing answers during mandatory training tests meant to assess professional integrity and skills.
The latest case came to light during a Senate inquiry into industry governance in Australia. Greens senator Barbara Pocock strongly criticised the outcome, calling the penalty “extremely disappointing.”
She argued that weak enforcement allows misconduct to continue without meaningful consequences. The comments added pressure on professional services firms to show stronger accountability, especially when senior leadership is involved.
KPMG Australia AI Cheating Reflects Wider Industry Problem
The issue of AI-driven cheating is not limited to KPMG. Across the accounting sector, organisations are struggling to keep up with how quickly AI tools are being used and misused.
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the world’s largest accounting body, scrapped remote exams last year after admitting its safeguards could not effectively detect AI-assisted cheating.
Other firms have faced similar embarrassment. Deloitte Australia was forced to refund part of its fee for a government report after it was found to contain AI-generated errors, including fabricated court rulings and fake academic references. These incidents highlight how AI misuse is becoming an industry-wide challenge rather than a one-off failure.
KPMG Australia CEO Andrew Yates acknowledged the difficulty of policing AI use, noting how quickly society has adopted these tools. The firm has said it will now track and publicly report AI misuse cases alongside its annual results, signalling a tougher stance going forward.