During audit planning, an IS auditor reviews the correlation matrix.

A correlation of –0.85 (option C) represents a strong negative correlation, indicating a meaningful inverse relationship. In AI model development, high-magnitude correlations (positive or negative) strongly influence feature selection and model behavior.

AAIA emphasizes that auditors must understand correlation strength to evaluate:

Feature relevance

Model weight justification

Risk of multicollinearity

Data quality and representativeness

The other correlations are weak or negligible.

Thus, the pair with –0.85 is the most significant.