Last Updated on: 20th July 2023, 09:40 pm
This AI Tool Makes Call Center Agents Look American
Call center staff must be fluent in Urdu and English. A multitude of people in Pakistan struggle to speak English properly with a decent accent due to the lack of reliable spoken English education in the country. But this new AI tool should make it easier for many people.
A new company has launched an artificial intelligence tool that will call American call center agents to improve the well-being of non-native speakers. This should make it easier for staff to understand, especially those who have trouble speaking English properly.
This AI tool comes from a company called Sanas which has been working on the project since 2020. This software alters users’ voices and “westernizes” them. A report in The Guardian states that the ‘Sanas’ AI engine can convert one speaker’s accent into what passes for another.
However, critics have argued that this tool could backfire. While this facilitates communication, it has its own psychological and ethical implications.
Popular science has reported that it can devalue the individuality of non-native speakers and does not help address deep-seated social issues. Privacy and surveillance researcher Chris Gilliard said such a tool would destroy the beauty of the diversity of voices and accents. He said this would lead to the “wiping out of people as individuals.”
However, it is also true that many people around the world find it difficult to understand accented English, so this will no doubt improve call center communication.
One of the company’s founders once worked with an Indian call center, which is probably why the company claims to “deepen the empathy”. Co-founder Sharath Keshava Narayana says more than 1,000 call centers in India are already using this AI tool.
