Call centre uses AI to "neutralise the accent" of Indian workers
Call centre uses AI to "neutralise the accent" of Indian workers
Occurred: February 2025
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The use of AI to "neutralise" the accents of Indian employees of call centre operator Teleperformance sparked debate about cultural erasure and workplace ethics.
A partnership between Teleperformance and Sanas, a California-based AI startup, to use real-time accent translation technology for Indian call center agents in order to make Indian accents sound more neutral and softer, filter out background noise, and improve communication clarity for Western customers.
The move prompted critics to highlight concerns about cultural erasure, accent-based discrimination, and the ethical implications of altering workers’ identities. Meantime, proponents of the scheme argued it enhances customer satisfaction and reduces handling times.
The move stems from efforts by Teleperformance to address perceived communication barriers between Indian agents and Western customers by neutralising the formers' accents, thereby fostering intimacy, increasing customer satisfaction, and improving efficiency.
The company said it also aims to reduce accent-related bias and enhance agent well-being by eliminating stressful accent training sessions.
The technology raises pertinent questions about identity and cultural authenticity in the workplace.
It also highlights broader societal issues around bias against non-Western accents and the ethical use of AI in human interactions.
While some view it as a practical solution for global business operations, others see it as perpetuating systemic biases and diminishing linguistic diversity.
Operator: Teleperformance
Developer: Sanas; Teleperformance
Country: India
Sector: Business/professional services
Purpose: Alter employee accents
Technology: Machine learning; Speech understanding
Issue: Bias/discrimination; Employment
Page info
Type: Issue
Published: April 2025