Overview
- Telus Digital has rolled out Tomato.ai software that encodes an agent’s voice, adjusts pronunciation features in real time, and decodes it back to speech to reduce accent-related friction while keeping the same voice identity.
- Union officials say the tool is already in internal use, including in interactions with offshore staff, and it remains unclear whether customer calls in Canada are being altered, as Telus did not respond to questions.
- Unifor’s Roch Leblanc told a parliamentary committee that companies should be required to tell callers when AI is used and said AI that deceives customers should be prohibited.
- Rogers and Bell said they do not use accent-changing technology and have no plans to adopt it, marking a public split from Telus on this approach to customer service.
- Supporters say accent modification can speed resolutions and shield agents from abuse, while critics warn it can mislead callers about who they are speaking with, including an anecdote of an overseas agent toggling the accent mask on and off.