SoftBank Corp, a Japanese company, has developed AI technology that reduces the volume of customers’ raised voices when calling call centers, aiming to protect the mental health of employees. According to the Asahi Shimbun, SoftBank employee Toshiyuki Nakatani conceived the idea for the technology after watching a program about customer behavior toward call center employees.
The technology doesn’t change what is being said but modifies the tone of voice, lowering higher-pitched voices and raising deeper ones. However, it does not fully diminish the intensity of customers’ voices, allowing employees to respond appropriately.
Ten actors recorded over 100 phrases with different emotions to train the AI using more than 10,000 audio clips.
According to the company, the primary challenge for call center employees is handling abusive language and prolonged conversations with customers who refuse to end calls. With the new technology, if the AI detects excessively long or offensive conversations, the customers will be warned.
SoftBank expects to start selling the technology by the fiscal year 2025 after further refining its accuracy.
