Tech start-up denies turning call centre voices 'white'

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The technology developed by the Silicon Valley start-up can change the accents of call centre workers.

According to the company, it can overcome accent-based prejudice and reduce racist abuse.

Critics said it was a move in the wrong direction and should be celebrated.

Many of the agents are from the global south, according to SFGATE.

According to reports, the company has received $32m in funding in the last two years.

A section on its website called "Demo" invites visitors to "hear the magic" by playing a recording of someone with an apparently South Asian accent reading a call centre script and then clicking a button to turn the speech into an American accent.

The start-up was accused of trying to make call centre workers sound white and American.

According to the co- founder of the company, all four of them were immigrants.

He said the tool was inspired by the experience of a friend.

A graduate student studying computer systems engineering in the US had to return to his home country to support his family.

Mr Narayana said that the student was fired because of the discrimination he faced because of his accent.

Mr Narayana, a former call centre agent, said that agents would be abused or discriminated against because of how they sounded.

The co- founder of Color in Tech argued that altering people's skin colors should be done because some people might not like it.

We can't go in this direction. Building tolerance is something we need to do.

The problem with people who feel it's okay to abuse call centre staff is not with the people who have the accent, according to Mr. Ainsley.

He said that more effort should be made to make sure that diversity in language was celebrated.

Mr Narayana was asked if the technology was racist. Yes, absolutely. The world should be more accepting of diversity. Yes, absolutely.

The call centre has been around for 45 years and agents go through discrimination on a daily basis.

Around 1,000 people use the technology in the Philippines and India, according to the company.

Call centre staff are expected to speak with an American accent. Shalu said she was expected to learn about American culture and use an American accent while working at call centers.

Two people with more recent experience of call centre technology were spoken to by Ms. Yadav.

The technology was a good idea according to both people. Some Americans they called who couldn't understand their accent were abused.

It was hard to get the correct spelling, pronunciation, and terminology. It used to be a lot more difficult to get the accent.

The individual thought that the industry had moved on from preferring American accents and that many companies now expected something more neutral.

The purpose of the project was to improve communication.

Firms are testing the technology to make it easier to communicate between teams in North and South India.