AI lets call center agents speak without an accent

The French call center giant Teleperformance uses artificial intelligence to neutralize accents of employees in real time, reports Heise . Especially in countries such as India or the Philippines, speech accents can impair intelligibility in customer conversations. The new technology ensures that the speech sounds clearer and more neutral, which should increase customer satisfaction.

AI is seen as a threat to traditional call centers, as companies like Klarna already process a large proportion of their customer inquiries automatically. To remain competitive, Teleperformance is investing $13 million in the Californian start-up Sanas. Their AI technology filters accents and background noise, allowing conversations to be conducted more efficiently. Shorter conversation times and faster solutions should further improve service quality.

Teleperformance plans to massively expand its AI investments. Up to 100 million euros are to be invested in corresponding partnerships by 2025. In addition to English, other languages, including German, are also expected to benefit from the technology in the future. Which companies are already using accent neutralization has not yet been announced. However, the development shows that AI not only replaces jobs, but can also be used to support human interaction.