Telus Deploys AI Technology to Alter Customer Service Agent Accents Amid Labor Concerns
Key Takeaways
- ▸Telus Digital has deployed Tomato.ai's speech-to-speech technology to alter customer service agent accents in real time, claiming it improves clarity and reduces friction
- ▸The technology preserves voice identity while modifying pronunciation features, according to Telus Digital
- ▸Labor unions report the technology is being used to mask the location and origins of overseas agents, raising transparency and consumer deception concerns
Summary
Telus Digital, the customer experience division of Telus Corp., has deployed artificial intelligence technology provided by Tomato.ai that alters the accents of customer service agents in real time. The speech-to-speech technology works by encoding the speaker's voice, modifying pronunciation-related features, and then decoding the speech back into audio, while preserving the speaker's identity and emotional tone. Telus Digital claims the technology improves clarity and reduces "accent-related friction" in customer interactions.
However, the deployment has sparked significant controversy among Canadian labor unions and government representatives. United Steelworkers Local 1944 president Michael Phillips reported that Telus is using the technology internally between Canadian and overseas agents, noting that an employee had observed an agent in the Philippines turning the accent masking on and off. Roch Leblanc, Unifor's telecommunications director, told a parliamentary committee that the union was aware of Big Three telcos using AI to mask offshore agent accents, calling on government to prohibit companies from using AI to "deceive Canadians in any way."
The controversy raises fundamental questions about transparency, customer rights, and the ethical deployment of AI in customer service. Labor representatives argue that customers should have the right to know where their call center agents are located and not be deceived about agent identity or origin. The deployment occurs amid a series of job reductions in Canada's telecom sector in recent years, amplifying union concerns about AI's impact on employment and worker protection.
- Unifor and United Steelworkers representatives are calling for government regulation requiring companies to disclose when AI is being used in customer service
- The deployment reflects growing tensions between AI adoption, worker rights, and the need for ethical guidelines in customer-facing applications
