The voice you hear on the other side of a call-centre interaction might soon sound a little more familiar, thanks to an AI tool that adjusts speech in real time – but not everyone thinks it’s a good idea.
Telus Digital, the wholly owned division of Telus Corp. XNDU-T -59.30%decrease responsible for customer experience and call centres, has deployed artificial-intelligence technology that alters the accent of customer service agents.
In a post on the company’s website explaining the benefits of speech enhancement, Telus Digital says the technology, provided by a third-party company called Tomato.ai, uses speech-to-speech models to transform live audio
It works by encoding the speaker’s voice, modifying pronunciation-related features, then decoding the speech back into audio, the company said
“These models directly modify the acoustic features of speech, preserving the speaker’s voice while improving clarity and reducing accent-related friction,” the company wrote in its post. “This approach allows the solution to address mispronunciations without altering the speaker’s identity or emotional tone.”
Other companies that provide a similar feature say it helps speed up calls and help customers find solutions, while protecting service agents from harassment or discrimination.
Telus Digital provides the call-centre support for the company’s Canadian telecom subscribers, as well as other clients globally.
The company is already using the service internally, according to union representatives. It’s not clear whether the feature is yet being used in calls with telecom customers. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
The use of technology to alter the human voice is not itself new, and responds to a complaint among some callers who say it can be difficult to understand heavy foreign accents.
However, real-time accent alteration reflects a recent use of AI that is stirring debate, especially after a series of customer-service-related job reductions in Canada within the telecom sector in recent years.
For labour representatives, the feature is another concern among many when it comes to the effects of AI on their members.
At a hearing before the parliamentary standing committee on industry and technology last week, Roch Leblanc, Unifor telecommunications director, called on government to require companies to inform Canadians when AI was being used.
He told members of Parliament that the union was aware of at least one Big Three telco using AI to mask the accents of offshore agents, “altering how customers perceive who they’re talking to.”
“The use of AI technology to deceive Canadians in any way should be prohibited,” he said.
United Steelworkers Local 1944 president Michael Phillips said he is aware of Telus using the technology internally, between agents based in Canada and overseas.
He said that he was informed by a B.C.-based Telus employee that they had spoken with an agent in the Philippines. According to that employee, “this overseas agent was laughing about it, turning the accent masker on and off, revealing their Filipino accent, and then, taking the accent away when they turned on the AI technology,” Mr. Phillips said.
“As we’re trying to figure out what the parameters around AI and AI limitations are, I think that a very clear right that Canadians should insist on is the right to not be deceived by AI, especially not by folks that they are paying to provide telephone services for,” he said.
Eric Smith, senior vice-president at industry group Canadian Telecommunications Association – which does not represent Telus – said the focus should be on the outcomes of new AI tools, and whether they can improve operational efficiency to help keep costs down for Canadians, while doing so in a responsible way.
He said he is not familiar with the specific accent-altering technology being used, but that generally, telecom providers are exploring how artificial intelligence can be used to resolve issues more quickly, reduce waiting times and provide more consistent support across the various channels, he said.
“AI can play an important role in improving operational efficiency, which help keep costs down for Canadians and consumers, and help support continued investment in building high quality networks,” he said.
Matthew Hatfield, director at OpenMedia, a non-profit that advocates for widespread and inexpensive internet access, said he was less concerned about the use of accent-masking technology itself than the fact that companies are “moving people away from humans as much as possible outside of these interactions.”
Whether to require the presence of humans in telecom customer interactions has become a complicated question. A few weeks ago, for instance, the telecom regulator required companies to implement a cancellation option online, so that customers would not be required to call in and speak with a representative to do so.
In statements, both Roger
s Communications Inc. XNDU-T -59.30%decrease and Bell Canada parent company BCE Inc. XNDU-T -59.30%decrease said they do not use accent-altering technology and do not plan to.
Telus Digital, the wholly owned division of Telus Corp. XNDU-T -59.30%decrease responsible for customer experience and call centres, has deployed artificial-intelligence technology that alters the accent of customer service agents.
In a post on the company’s website explaining the benefits of speech enhancement, Telus Digital says the technology, provided by a third-party company called Tomato.ai, uses speech-to-speech models to transform live audio
It works by encoding the speaker’s voice, modifying pronunciation-related features, then decoding the speech back into audio, the company said
“These models directly modify the acoustic features of speech, preserving the speaker’s voice while improving clarity and reducing accent-related friction,” the company wrote in its post. “This approach allows the solution to address mispronunciations without altering the speaker’s identity or emotional tone.”
Other companies that provide a similar feature say it helps speed up calls and help customers find solutions, while protecting service agents from harassment or discrimination.
Telus Digital provides the call-centre support for the company’s Canadian telecom subscribers, as well as other clients globally.
The company is already using the service internally, according to union representatives. It’s not clear whether the feature is yet being used in calls with telecom customers. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
The use of technology to alter the human voice is not itself new, and responds to a complaint among some callers who say it can be difficult to understand heavy foreign accents.
However, real-time accent alteration reflects a recent use of AI that is stirring debate, especially after a series of customer-service-related job reductions in Canada within the telecom sector in recent years.
For labour representatives, the feature is another concern among many when it comes to the effects of AI on their members.
At a hearing before the parliamentary standing committee on industry and technology last week, Roch Leblanc, Unifor telecommunications director, called on government to require companies to inform Canadians when AI was being used.
He told members of Parliament that the union was aware of at least one Big Three telco using AI to mask the accents of offshore agents, “altering how customers perceive who they’re talking to.”
“The use of AI technology to deceive Canadians in any way should be prohibited,” he said.
United Steelworkers Local 1944 president Michael Phillips said he is aware of Telus using the technology internally, between agents based in Canada and overseas.
He said that he was informed by a B.C.-based Telus employee that they had spoken with an agent in the Philippines. According to that employee, “this overseas agent was laughing about it, turning the accent masker on and off, revealing their Filipino accent, and then, taking the accent away when they turned on the AI technology,” Mr. Phillips said.
“As we’re trying to figure out what the parameters around AI and AI limitations are, I think that a very clear right that Canadians should insist on is the right to not be deceived by AI, especially not by folks that they are paying to provide telephone services for,” he said.
Eric Smith, senior vice-president at industry group Canadian Telecommunications Association – which does not represent Telus – said the focus should be on the outcomes of new AI tools, and whether they can improve operational efficiency to help keep costs down for Canadians, while doing so in a responsible way.
He said he is not familiar with the specific accent-altering technology being used, but that generally, telecom providers are exploring how artificial intelligence can be used to resolve issues more quickly, reduce waiting times and provide more consistent support across the various channels, he said.
“AI can play an important role in improving operational efficiency, which help keep costs down for Canadians and consumers, and help support continued investment in building high quality networks,” he said.
Matthew Hatfield, director at OpenMedia, a non-profit that advocates for widespread and inexpensive internet access, said he was less concerned about the use of accent-masking technology itself than the fact that companies are “moving people away from humans as much as possible outside of these interactions.”
Whether to require the presence of humans in telecom customer interactions has become a complicated question. A few weeks ago, for instance, the telecom regulator required companies to implement a cancellation option online, so that customers would not be required to call in and speak with a representative to do so.
In statements, both Roger
s Communications Inc. XNDU-T -59.30%decrease and Bell Canada parent company BCE Inc. XNDU-T -59.30%decrease said they do not use accent-altering technology and do not plan to.
