"there is a difficulty people in India talking"
The world’s largest call centre operator has been accused of using AI to “whiten” Indian accents for British customers.
Teleperformance is using real-time AI software to “neutralise” Indian accents on phone calls.
The French company claims the technology reduces miscommunication and helps call centre workers resolve customer issues faster.
It also says the AI tool makes employees more productive, reduces abuse from customers, and lowers the number of requests to speak to a supervisor.
The software is designed to modify voices in real-time without storing data, according to Teleperformance.
Teleperformance’s Markus Schmitt said: “It’s a technology that allows [us] to neutralise accents in real time without any data storage.
“You have obviously the issue we talked about human connection, human empathy. We have first implemented Sanas with clients in India.
“And sometimes, there is a difficulty people in India talking and vice versa with clients from the US.”
Teleperformance employs 90,000 people in India and tens of thousands more worldwide.
Its UK clients include government departments, the NHS, Vodafone, and eBay. The AI software is provided by the US-based company Sanas.
Demonstrations of Sanas’ technology show Indian accents taking on an American tone while also reducing background noise.
The company has previously been criticised for making voices “sound whiter”.
Major firms, including Walmart and UPS, already use the technology.
Sanas plans to expand the AI tool to other countries beyond India.
The widespread use of such AI raises concerns about cultural identity and the erasure of regional accents in global business communications.
Critics argue that neutralising accents could reinforce bias against non-Western voices. Others say it may make it harder for call centre workers to form genuine connections with customers.
Concerns over AI’s impact extend beyond call centres.
The creative industry is also at risk, with AI-powered image generators using human-made art to create digital replicas. This threatens artists’ ability to earn a living.
Photographer Tim Flach, known for stark animal portraits against black backgrounds, is one of those affected.
Flach said:
“AI should support, not supply human creativity.”
He first discovered AI scraping his work when an academic from the University of the Arts London contacted him. AI companies use a process called scraping to capture online data for training purposes.
The situation could worsen.
The UK government is working on legislation that would allow AI firms open access to any legally available online content.
Copyright holders would need to actively “opt out” to prevent their work from being harvested.
As AI continues to reshape industries, questions remain about its ethical use and the long-term effects on both workers and creatives.
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