A new AI-powered tool is being used to alter the accents of Indian call center workers in real time, sparking debate over cultural erasure and bias in global customer service. As The Times UK reports, French outsourcing giant Teleperformance, the world’s largest call center operator, has adopted an “accent translation” software developed by the California-based startup Sanas.
The software is designed to “neutralize” accents, making them sound more American or British to reduce customer frustration and shorten call times. Thomas Mackenbrock, Teleperformance’s deputy CEO, defended the tool, stating:
“When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard to hear, to understand. The technology can neutralize the accent of the Indian speaker with zero latency. This creates more intimacy, increases customer satisfaction, and reduces the average handling time.”
Despite claims of improved efficiency, critics argue that this is not true “neutralization” but rather the prioritization of Western accents over Indian ones.
The controversy is not new. In the early 2000s, Indian call centers forced workers to adopt Western names and undergo accent training to sound more “native” to American and British customers. Many felt humiliated, seeing it as an attempt to erase their identity. Now, AI has automated that process.
Akhilesh Agarwal, a former Bangalore call center worker, sees the new technology as a continuation of the same bias.
“It’s not really neutralization, is it? That’s just sugaring the pill. It’s favoring an American or British accent above an Indian one. I wonder if they’d neutralize a Scottish or Irish accent? I doubt it.”
However, some argue that the tool is not about prejudice but practicality. Binoo John, author of Entry From Backside Only, a book on English in India, told The Times UK:
“Western customers prefer Western accents because it makes the interaction smooth and easy. Indians too love those accents, and anyone with a Western accent gets better jobs and incomes, so it’s pretty universal.”
While AI is being developed to make robots sound more human and diverse, this technology does the opposite—forcing workers into a standardized, artificial accent. The question remains: Is this innovation, or simply high-tech discrimination?
