In an effort to reduce the psychological stress faced by call center employees and to foster a kinder and safer working environment, Japanese tech giant SoftBank is developing an innovative “emotion-cancelling” AI tool. This technology is designed to transform angry voices into calm ones, significantly improving the experience for customer service agents.
Customer service can be a challenging field, as it often involves handling a wide range of personalities, including irritable, overly critical, and sometimes even screaming customers. Call center workers bear the brunt of these interactions, serving as the frontline representatives for their companies. This relentless exposure to negativity can take a toll on their mental well-being.
Recognizing this issue, SoftBank has introduced an AI tool powered by advanced voice-altering technology. This tool detects angry and aggressive tones in customers’ voices and modifies them to sound calmer and less confrontational. By doing so, it aims to shield customer service workers from the emotional strain that comes with dealing with hostile callers.
The “emotion-cancelling” AI operates in two stages. First, it identifies irate callers using sophisticated voice-processing technology. Next, it adjusts the caller’s intonation to deliver a calmer and more natural tone, without altering the actual words spoken. This ensures that while the emotional impact is softened, the urgency of the caller’s issue is still conveyed accurately.
The primary objective of this tool is to protect the mental and emotional health of call center employees, reducing the psychological burden caused by aggressive and loud callers. Importantly, the system retains some elements of anger in the caller’s voice to ensure operators can still gauge the severity of the situation and respond appropriately.
In development for over three years, this tool has been trained using more than 10,000 voice data samples. Currently, it is only available in Japanese, but SoftBank is exploring the possibility of expanding it to other languages.
This groundbreaking tool is poised to make a significant impact in the call center industry. By decreasing stress levels and enhancing working conditions, it promises to create a more positive environment for call center agents.
