The world's largest call center uses artificial intelligence to "neutralize" the accents of Indian employees.
That is, well, one way to utilize artificial intelligence.
Teleperformance SE, recognized as the largest customer service center operator in the world, has developed a method to obscure its location in India when users call for support, especially for devices like the iPhone or Galaxy. According to a published report, the company has made a $13 million investment in Sanas, an artificial intelligence startup that has designed technology aimed at "reducing accent-based discrimination." As Teleperformance points out, this technology can "neutralize" accents.
Thomas Mackenbrock, the company's Deputy CEO, explained that sometimes customers have difficulty understanding Indian agents due to their accents. Mackenbrock stated that the AI technology is capable of "neutralizing the Indian speaker's accent without delays." Sanas's technology is currently effective for Indian and Filipino accents, and the company is working on implementing it for other accents, including those from Latin America.
Additionally, the startup offers a background noise removal feature, which helps mask any ambient sound that could indicate the employees' location in the call center. Teleperformance has also mentioned that it is integrating AI tools for more common tasks, such as call transcription and training of new employees. During a recent investors' call, the company announced that it will allocate an additional $104 million to artificial intelligence technology.