A mainly sunny sky. High 89F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..
Partly cloudy. Low 64F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.
Updated: September 22, 2022 @ 1:25 am
(Ferry Baylon / Daily Titan)
(Ferry Baylon / Daily Titan)
The speech technology company Sanas launched its real-time accent translation software, allowing users with the push of a button to replaces ethnic accents with a robotic, unmistakable white-sounding voice. Sanas said their artificial intelligence program aims to provide a solution to so-called “accent problems” for companies in India, the Philippines and other countries with huge business process outsourcing industries.
The creation of this type of technology is not only dangerous, but also downright discriminatory. Frankly, it is a step back from the progress our society has made over the years.
Sanas’ erasure of accents hides a history of colonization. Anjali Acharya, a graduate student in the clinical mental health counseling program at Cal State Fullerton, said that she felt Sanas is a result of discrimination, racism and colonialism.
“It’s a product of white supremacy culture, obviously — that the Western white American accent is better than a quote-unquote ethnic accent,” Acharya said.
Alongside India, the Philippines saw a big opportunity to cash in on the emerging business process outsourcing industry, which includes menial operations such as payroll, inventory purchasing and customer service to third parties. In 1992, the country welcomed its first call center. By 2010, the Philippines surpassed India as the No. 1 destination for business process outsourcing.
Many top American companies, such as Expedia, AT&T and JPMorgan Chase & Co., already have operations in the two countries as citizens from the Philippines and India are well-versed in spoken American-style English. The fact that the two countries were former colonies of the United States and Britain plays a significant role.
Despite their proficiency in American-style English, and likely as a result of America’s overreliance on them, many complaints and stereotypes have been raised criticizing the accents of customer service operators.
Some people may argue that implementing Sanas can protect international customer service operators from harassment. However, hiding accents prevents privileged countries, like the U.S. and Great Britain, from confronting this history of exploitation and outsourced labor.
“It’s extremely discriminatory. It’s extremely damaging to the perception of folks from these communities and I don’t know why this technology exists,” Acharya said.
Accents should not hinder a person’s path to success; in fact, they should work in a person’s favor to showcase cultural diversity. Everyone has different perspectives of the world, and accents are a way to show one’s willingness to immerse themselves in different cultures.
Sanas’ erasure of accents contributes to the invisibility of people from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Sanas forces people to put up a facade and layer themselves with masks of what others will accept. It pressures them to fit into cultural norms that will slowly chip away at the core of their authenticity.
On its website, Sanas is described as “a step towards empowering individuals, advancing equality, and deepening empathy,” which is an ironic statement as this contradicts what their technology is actually doing. The technology is used not only to strip a person of their accent, but also their individuality.
Instead of calling customer support to speak to an actual human being, Sanas has created the impression of speaking with a white robot.
There are reports that Sanas is already being used in 1,000 call centers in the Philippines and India. For now, call center agents are at their leisure when it comes to using the software; however, if the technology proves to be effective, more companies may be inclined to utilize the software.
Sanas should scrap this accent translation software and apologize to call center representatives for its creation. Nothing is wrong with having an accent, and those who complain about misunderstandings over the phone because of the other person’s accent are ignorant.
Sanas is a concession to intolerant people who consider their culture superior and think others are beneath them. It’s disgusting, it’s distasteful and it’s discriminatory. Accent modifiers have no place in society.
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.