Telus Digital deploys AI technology to alter customer service agents' accents in real time

Telus Digital, the customer experience and call-centre division of Telus Corp., has deployed AI technology provided by Tomato.ai that modifies the accents of customer service agents. The system encodes the speaker's voice, modifies pronunciation-related features, then decodes the speech back into audio, according to Telus Digital's explanation.

The technology preserves the speaker's voice and emotional tone while adjusting acoustic features to improve clarity and reduce what Telus Digital calls 'accent-related friction.' The company is already using the service internally, according to union representatives, though it is not clear whether the feature is being used in calls with telecom customers.

Labour representatives and union officials have raised concerns about the technology. Unifor telecommunications director Roch Leblanc called for government to require companies to inform Canadians when AI is being used and said 'the use of AI technology to deceive Canadians in any way should be prohibited.' United Steelworkers Local 1944 president Michael Phillips stated he is aware of Telus using the technology internally between agents based in Canada and overseas.

Rogers Communications Inc. and Bell Canada parent company BCE Inc. both stated they do not use accent-altering technology and do not plan to.