Have you ever had to call a company's customer service line and found yourself descending a slow spiral into hell?
Of course you have.
Well, thanks to a new technological advance, that might be getting even worse.
Picture this: You're absolutely fuming, giving that call center agent a piece of your mind, but your voice comes out on the other line sounding like a Zen master on tranquilizers.
Welcome to the future, courtesy of Japan's very own Softbank.
Softbank is now tinkering with an AI tool they've dubbed "SoftVoice," an "emotion-canceling" system its rolling out to call centers designed to dial down your rage to a calm whisper with just a click.
You thought your boss was good at ignoring your complaints? This thing is a whole new level.
Softbank hired 10 actors to train the AI, feeding it a buffet of over 10,000 pieces of voice data. That's a lot of "let me speak to your manager" right there. The AI picks up on angry tones, yells, and even those exasperated sighs, then smooths it out.
Apparently, the AI does leave room for a small level of frustration, however.
'The solution is expected to help lighten the psychological load of call center operators and create a work environment where they can work safely to provide even better services to customers,' Softbank said in a statement this month.
They've even got a nifty interface in the works, complete with options to select a feminine or masculine voice. They're planning to roll out this emotion-numbing wonder by the end of March 2026.
Next time you're losing your cool over a botched order, your voice might just sound like Mr. Rogers welcoming you to the neighborhood instead of the Hulk ready to smash.
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