The job of a call center employee is notoriously unpleasant. They spend their days answering questions from disgruntled customers and can only respond in company-mandated terms. Many expect artificial intelligence to one day replace these customer service jobs, but currently, some companies are using artificial intelligence to solve the incredible emotional distress faced by employees. Well, they’re trying – sort of.
According to reports, last week, SoftBank, a large Japanese conglomerate, announced the development of “emotion elimination” technology to protect employees from customer harassment. Asahi Shimbun. The voice-changing technology, called SoftVoice, can turn an angry customer’s voice into a calm one. It is designed to emotionally support call center employees, acting as a “mental shield” for operators.
SoftVoice developers told Japanese newspapers that artificial intelligence will detect hostile tones and automatically change the customer’s tone without changing their words. By 2025, the company hopes to sell the technology more widely. Frankly, it sounds like a dystopian experiment in science fiction, where our overlords downplay human emotions to lubricate our corporate communications. But SoftBank isn’t the only company making half-assed efforts to use artificial intelligence to support struggling employees.
Memphis-based regional bank First Horizon reportedly plans to use artificial intelligence to detect when call center employees are on the verge of losing touch. american banker March. The bank’s plan is to send employees a light-hearted video clip featuring family photos set to music. However, First Horizon has reportedly decided do not use this system. Dubbed “Resets,” the videos will be produced by Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global and feature inspirational quotes and guided “breathing bubbles” to teach employees relaxation breathing techniques. that report Reappear on social media this week.
First Horizon employees will choose their own photos and songs to appear in the one-minute reset video. First Horizon found a 13% reduction in burnout in initial testing, followed by a 20% reduction in larger testing. The company said at the time it was rolling out the technology to all 3,000 of its call center operators, but apparently that never happened.
Gizmodo reached out to First Horizon for comment and will update the article when we hear back.
While it may seem strange for artificial intelligence to emotionally support workers, it is a critical step toward replacing call center operators. A key function of this job is to recognize when a customer is upset and apologize on behalf of the company. It’s no coincidence that both SoftBank and First Horizon’s AI systems deal with emotion recognition. In reality, their AI is being used on call center workers, but one day, these companies hope that AI will be able to handle unhappy customers on its own. Until then, we’re in a strange predicament, where artificial intelligence is solving the tragic problem of call center jobs.
