SoftBank unveils artificial intelligence that can change the tone of voice of angry customers

A productive artificial intelligence (AI) tool Change the tone of voice of angry customers calling customer service It is developed by SoftBank. As the Japanese company announced in early June, the technology makes the user appear calmer during a call.

Titled “Emotion Cancellation”, something like “emotion cancellation” in free translation, functionality Recognizes and modifies vocal characteristics that indicate hostile or angry speechAccording to the telecommunications giant. This way the customer’s voice becomes less threatening.

He can too If you detect a low and slow sound, adjust the volume and speed of the conversationfor example, improving communication with the participant during audio processing that occurs in real time. Another ability that artificial intelligence has is to determine whether the interaction is too long and malicious.

The technology, developed over the past three years, was trained with more than 10,000 voice samples performed by 10 Japanese actors who expressed sentences with different emotions, screams and accusatory tones. SoftBank emphasizes that: HE the mechanism does not change the content of the client’s conversation.

Harassment of call center representatives

Artificial intelligence that changes the tone of voice of angry customers, whose launch is planned to take place in 2026 Reducing harassment of call center workers in Japan. According to the company, officers face aggressive behavior and excessive demands every day.

Employees who face threats, intimidation, and other forms of harassment during phone calls are often stressed. The increase in such incidents has alarmed the Japanese government and companies in this segment. Planning new ways to deal with the problem.

Despite the improvements suggested by tools such as Emotion Blocking, the solution developed by SoftBank has sparked debate about its effectiveness. Some people on Reddit point out that technology isn’t necessarily a good idea, because will help mask gaps in service delivery By “disguising” the tone of complaints.