Thomson Reuters has radically revamped its mainstay tax research product, Checkpoint, with artificial intelligence.
The infusion of AI means that “answers are served up much more quickly, and in a way that’s more intuitive,” Charlotte Rushton, president of the tax professionals business of Thomson Reuters told Accounting Today. “The platform is now more Q&A-based, and sometimes gives users a new way to think about their question they hadn’t considered before. This helps them to get research much more quickly, but expand what they’re looking at.”
The tool was developed by the Thomson Reuters' product development team along with the company's Center for AI and Cognitive Computing, and leverages the latest in AI, cognitive computing and machine learning. The Center for AI and Cognitive Computing was also behind the recent launch of Thomson Reuters Westlaw Edge, a research system for the legal market.
Rushton noted that Westlaw Edge was Thomson’s first foray into AI for its research platforms. Checkpoint Edge builds on the lessons learned there.
Checkpoint Edge incorporates natural language processing, which enables plain-English queries, and AI-powered algorithms that scan thousands of primary sources and editorial interpretations to surface relevant information. It continually synthesizes users’ questions and search behaviors to learn and improve search results as it is used.
Tax professionals can access the full Checkpoint database of current tax law content, along with expert editorial analysis for over 180 different countries. Checkpoint Edge also allows researchers to search trusted public sites alongside proprietary Checkpoint content. The platform absorbs millions of user data logs and search patterns from Checkpoint’s reported 200,000-plus unique users to continually learn and refine search results over time.
“Tax law today is more complex than ever before,” Rushton said in a statement. “Last year, in the U.S. alone, there were roughly 500 changes to the federal Tax Code, with many more cascading changes at the state and local levels. Tax and accounting professionals are expected to keep up with global tax policy that is changing at breakneck pace. With the introduction of Checkpoint Edge, we are putting the most powerful tax research and guidance technology available today directly into the hands of our customers to help them get the answers they need quickly, accurately and efficiently.”
