This AI-Powered Tool Changes Angry Customers' Voices from Nasty to Neutral

One of the toughest aspects of working in a call center is dealing with customers who, for whatever reason, refuse to behave in accordance with the fact that the representative on the other end of the line is a human being. Beyond the immediate stress of dealing with an angry customer, call center staff face higher rates of burnout and compassion fatigue—that “jaded” feeling—than most other entry-level workers. Eager for a solution, the Japanese telecom company and investment firm Softbank is developing a tool that neutralizes customers’ shouts before they reach call center representatives’ ears. 
The tool is called SoftVoice, and it’s the product of “Beyond AI,” a partnership between Softbank and the University of Tokyo’s Institute for AI and Beyond. SoftVoice uses artificial intelligence to make fed-up customers sound a bit calmer. The idea comes courtesy of Toshiyuki Nakatani, a SoftBank employee who got his inspiration from a popular anime series called “Gegege no Kitaro.” Nakatani thought that if customers’ voices sounded more like the character Eyeball Father, who speaks authoritatively but in a comical voice, their anger would be easier to deal with on a continual basis. 
Beyond AI trained SoftVoice by gathering ten voice actors, each of whom performed more than 100 common customer phrases in different inflections. This produced over 10,000 audio clips, which together enabled SoftVoice to learn what angry phrases sound like in comparison with calm ones. The tool uses these reference points to change the pitch and tone of a real customer’s voice halfway through transmission, so it sounds less irate by the time it reaches the call center representative.  
Emotional inflection is an important part of human communication, though, and how a call center representative responds to a request might change depending on the customer’s emotional state. To prevent total loss of emotional transparency, SoftVoice reportedly keeps just a touch of frustration in the customer’s voice, allowing the representative to understand where the customer is coming from without burning out emotionally.
Based on screenshots shared by Softbank, call center staff will have the option to toggle SoftVoice on and off at will. They’ll also be able to opt for a feminine or masculine voice, as well as select the program’s intensity. Softbank clarified that SoftVoice is intended for the larger customer service industry, not specifically for its own workers, and that the AI-powered program should become available for purchase in the 2025 fiscal year. 
ExtremeTech supports Group Black and its mission to increase greater diversity in media voices and media ownerships.
© 2001-2024 Ziff Davis, LLC., a Ziff Davis company. All Rights Reserved.
ExtremeTech is a federally registered trademark of Ziff Davis, LLC and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of ExtremeTech. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant.

source