THE world’s biggest call centre operator has been accused of using AI to “whiten” Indian accents for Brit customers.
Teleperformance is using real-time AI software on phone calls to “neutralise” Indian accents to reduce miscommunication.
The French company said the new AI tool means customer service calls are resolved more quickly, making call centre workers more productive.
Call centre workers are also reportedly less likely to be abused and customers are less likely to demand to speak to a supervisor.
Teleperformance’s Thomas Mackenbrock said: “It’s a technology that allows [us] to neutralise accents in real time without any data storage.
“You have obviously the issue we talked about human connection, human empathy.
“We have first implemented Sanas with clients in India.
“And sometimes, there is a difficulty people in India talking and vice versa with clients from the US.”
The French company’s customers in the UK include parts of the Government, the NHS, Vodafone and eBay.
The AI software is provided by an American company called Sanas.
Demos of Sanas’ technology show Indian accents acquiring a distinctively American twang, as well as reducing background noise.
Sanas has previously been criticised for making people’s voices “sound whiter”.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Mobile phone users never have to make calls AGAIN as Google launches bizarre new tool for appointments and more” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6368045627112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]The creative industry is also concerned about the use of AI.
AI-powered image generators are using art made by humans to help others create digital dupes, making it harder for creatives to make a living.
Photographer Tim Flach, who specialises in stark animal portraits against black backgrounds, is just one of many affected.
Speaking to The Sun, Flach said: “AI should support, not supply human creativity.”
The Shoreditch-based photographer first became aware of his work being fed to AI bots when an academic from the University of Arts London called him.
This is done through a process called scraping, which is where AI companies capture data from the internet, to train their AI.
And things may get worse as the UK government is currently working on legislation that would give AI companies open access to anything they can legally obtain online.
This means all copyright holders would have to actively “opt out” of having their work harvested by AI firms.