Remember when we thought robots were just coming for factory jobs, truck driving jobs, and maybe your nephew’s job at Taco Bell? Well, surprise: now they’re gunning for your tax pro. That’s right, the machines have been let loose on the U.S. tax code, and the results are equal parts brilliant, terrifying, and hilarious.
Artificial Intelligence
𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐘𝐨𝐮… 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤
When 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟 𝑊𝑎𝑟𝑠 hit theaters in May 1977, it felt like nothing short of a transmission from the future.
I saw the original 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟 𝑊𝑎𝑟𝑠 at one of the now long-gone drive-in theaters near the Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena.) Back then, the galaxy felt far, far away.
Today? It’s just another line item in our tech stack.
Jump Into the Void
Don’t look now, but April 15 is almost here! Ordinarily, that means money gushing in for our friends at the IRS. Last year, they took in $5.1 trillion, or 95% of all government revenue. Since then, the economy has grown 2.8%, suggesting we should see a similarly sized increase in revenue.
Magic Eight Ball Says . . .
Tax professionals hoping to rescue wasted dollars for their clients for are hoping to harness AI’s power. A startup company called Blue J has introduced two services for tax pros eager to hop on the AI bandwagon. Their diagramming tool helps planners create helpful illustrations for transactions like mergers and acquisitions, corporate spinoffs, and the like. And they’re more exciting “Ask Blue J” chatbot promises “research with confidence” to help planners research caselaw, clarify understanding, and expedite drafting. But Yogi Berra once said, “It’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.”