A Silicon Valley startup has developed technology that allows contact center employees to change their accents in real-time.
The startup, Sanas, told that their technology might eliminate discrimination based on an individual’s accent and prevent racial attacks against employees.
However, some critics deem this a step in the wrong direction and argue that language diversity ought to be celebrated.
The news website SFGATE accused Sanas of “whitewashing” the agents, the majority of whom are from the global south.
According to reports, Sanas has raised $32 million in funding since June 2022. The company touts its technology as an accent translation tool.
A portion of its website titled “Demo” invites users to “hear the magic” by playing a tape of a person with an apparent South Asian accent reading a contact center script and then pressing a slider button that transforms the speech into an American accent that sounds slightly robotic.
SFGATE accused the startup of wanting to make “call center employees sound white and American, regardless of their nationality.”
Sharath Keshava Narayana, the co-founder of Sanas, refuted the assertion, stating on the BBC’s Tech Tent program that all four founders and 90% of the company’s staff were immigrants.
He stated that the inspiration for the tool came in part from the experience of a close friend of one of the other co-founders.
This friend, a third-year graduate student at Stanford University studying computer systems engineering, had to return to Nicaragua to help his parents.
The student obtained a technical support position in a contact center but was fired after three months due to discrimination based on his accent, according to Mr. Narayana.
Mr. Narayana, himself a former call center worker, stated that in his experience agents were mistreated or discriminated against based on how they sound, an abuse the business hopes its technology can avoid.
Co-founder of the organization Color in Tech, Ashleigh Ainsley, argued: “Should we simply alter people’s skin tones because certain racists may object?
“We cannot proceed in this manner. We must foster tolerance.”
Mr. Ainsley opined that Sanas’ efforts were misguided, stating, “The problem is with those who find it acceptable to harass [call center personnel], not with those who have an accent.”
He stated that more effort should be taken to ensure that language variety is celebrated and prejudice is not permitted.
Accent discrimination
When asked if the technology facilitated racism, Mr. Narayana responded: “Should the global community be improved? Yes, absolutely. Should the global community be more tolerant of variety and accents? Absolutely yes.
However, contact centers have been for 45 years, and agents experience discrimination on every call.
The company reported that over 1,000 people currently utilize the technology, primarily in the Philippines and India, and that it has been well-received, increasing staff retention.
Numerous call center employees have stated that they are expected to talk with an American accent. Shalu Yadav, a Delhi-based journalist reported that her employers expected her to learn about American culture and speak with an American accent.
Ms. Yadav also discussed Sanas’s technology with two individuals with more recent expertise in call centers.
Both individuals agreed that the technology was a good concept. One individual described receiving “abuse” from American callers who could not understand their accent.
Another remark: “Grammar, pronunciation, jargon, and slang were always tough to get correct. Consequently, acquiring the accent was formerly a further burden.”
This individual, however, believed that the industry no longer favored American accents and that many companies now expected something more “neutral.”
Sanas stated that its objective was to improve communication in situations when an accent could represent a barrier.
It was reported that corporations were testing the technology for internal usage, to facilitate communication between teams in South Korea and the United States or between North and South India.
