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Episode: Call centres: Are you talking to AI?

Author: BBC Radio
Duration: 00:06:13

Episode Shownotes

Could AI make call centre queues less painful?Find a full transcript and worksheet for this episode to help you with your English at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish`/english/features/6-minute-english_2024/ep-241219SUBSCRIBE` TO OUR NEWSLETTER: ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish`/newslettersFIND` BBC LEARNING ENGLISH HERE: Visit our website ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish Follow us ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/followusLIKE PODCASTS? Try some of our other popular podcasts

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Full Transcript

00:00:00 Speaker_02
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

00:00:08 Speaker_01
Hello.

00:00:12 Speaker_02
This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Phil.

00:00:16 Speaker_05
And I'm Pippa. Have you ever phoned up a company and had your call held in a queue? If you have, then you've probably heard messages like this.

00:00:27 Speaker_04
Hello, your call is important to us. You are number 89 in the queue. If you'd like to continue to hold press one, if you'd like to return to the main menu, press zero. How do you feel when your phone call is put on hold, Phil?

00:00:41 Speaker_02
Oh, frustrated usually. Although I do like it when there's a number saying how many people are in front of you. That's good.

00:00:49 Speaker_05
Well, when your call is finally connected, it's usually a call centre worker you'll speak to – a real, live person who'll hopefully fix your problem. But increasingly, this work is now done using Artificial Intelligence, or AI.

00:01:04 Speaker_05
And this is causing problems in countries like India and the Philippines, where call-centred jobs make up a big part of the economy.

00:01:12 Speaker_02
In this programme, we'll be asking who's really in charge at the call centre – humans or AI? As always, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary.

00:01:23 Speaker_02
And remember, you can read along with the programme and find the list of new words and phrases by visiting our website bbclearningenglish.com.

00:01:34 Speaker_05
But now I have a question for you, Phil. Around the world, numbers of call centre workers have grown rapidly in recent years. If you're listening to this, maybe you're a call centre worker yourself.

00:01:46 Speaker_05
So, approximately how many people work in call centres globally, Phil? Is it a – 7 million, b – 17 million or c – 27 million? I think b – 17 million. OK, well, you'll have to listen to the end to find out the answer.

00:02:06 Speaker_05
Now, one worker worried about the impact of AI on jobs in the Philippines is Mylene Cavallona, president of the call centre workers' union, BIEN.

00:02:18 Speaker_05
Here she tells BBC World Service programme Tech Life about some of the difficulties of her job and why she fears for the future.

00:02:26 Speaker_00
So and this person is quite already aggravated and he keeps on yelling and that's the, you know, that's the difficult part because the mental stress.

00:02:37 Speaker_00
So, you know, you have to pacify the client and you have to make sure you're able to resolve the concern. And then the difficult part on that conversation is that you're being monitored by an AI. I mean, eventually AI would replace us.

00:02:56 Speaker_00
It's going to displace workers in the, you know, eventually in the near future. Even as a matter of fact, there's been a and a study that says that about 300,000 workers, or around 27% of workers, that's going to be displaced because of AI.

00:03:15 Speaker_00
And that's slowly happening.

00:03:16 Speaker_02
Call center work involves dealing with customers who phoned up to complain. They're often angry, aggravated, and yelling or shouting down the phone. It's Mylene's job to pacify them, to calm them down.

00:03:30 Speaker_05
If that wasn't stressful enough, Mylene's conversations are monitored by AI systems to see how well she fixes her clients' problems.

00:03:39 Speaker_05
You might think AI was built to support workers like Mylene, but she fears AI will replace her in the near future, a phrase meaning very soon or within a short time.

00:03:50 Speaker_02
Mylene emphasizes her fears about being replaced by giving details about a study she read which claimed that 27% of workers will be displaced by AI.

00:04:01 Speaker_02
She uses the phrase as a matter of fact to emphasize what she's saying and to give more detail as evidence to support it.

00:04:09 Speaker_05
But Mylene thinks AI will never fully replace humans. She says AI lacks one important quality – empathy. Here she explains more to BBC World Service's Tech Life.

00:04:22 Speaker_00
Well, I don't think AI is, you know, empathetic or whenever they talk, I mean, if ever a machine or a robot talks to them, you know, people are more compassionate than, you know, when you talk to a robot.

00:04:40 Speaker_02
Mylene says that AI is not empathetic. Unlike humans, it can't put itself in someone else's place and share their feelings or experiences.

00:04:50 Speaker_05
If you listen carefully to Mylene's speech, you'll notice she says you know a lot. Phrases like you know, um and are are called filler words and are used to give the speaker time to think or to express uncertainty.

00:05:05 Speaker_05
Right, I think it's time I revealed the answer to my question, Phil. I asked you how many call centre workers are there globally?

00:05:14 Speaker_02
And I said 17 million.

00:05:17 Speaker_05
which is the right answer. OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned in this programme, starting with yelling – another word for shouting.

00:05:27 Speaker_02
To pacify someone means to calm them down when they're angry.

00:05:31 Speaker_05
In the near future means very soon or within a short time.

00:05:35 Speaker_02
The phrase as a matter of fact is used to add emphasis to what you're saying, to give more detail about what you've just said or to introduce something that contrasts with it.

00:05:46 Speaker_05
If you're empathetic, you're able to put yourself in someone else's position and share their feelings or experiences.

00:05:54 Speaker_02
And finally, filler words like um, ah, and you know, give the speaker more time to think or to express uncertainty. Once again, our six minutes are up. Bye. Bye.

00:06:22 Speaker_03
Yoga is more than just exercise. It's the spiritual practice that millions swear by. And in 2017, Miranda, a university tutor from London, joins a yoga school that promises profound transformation.

00:06:37 Speaker_06
It felt a really safe and welcoming space. After the yoga classes, I felt amazing.

00:06:44 Speaker_03
But soon, that calm, welcoming atmosphere leads to something far darker. A journey that leads to allegations of grooming, trafficking and exploitation across international borders.

00:06:56 Speaker_06
I don't have my passport, I don't have my phone, I don't have my bank cards, I have nothing. The passport being taken, the being in a house and not feeling like they can leave.

00:07:08 Speaker_03
World of Secrets is where untold stories are unveiled and hidden realities are exposed. In this new series, we're confronting the dark side of the wellness industry, where the hope of a spiritual breakthrough gives way to disturbing accusations.

00:07:24 Speaker_03
You just get sucked in so gradually.

00:07:28 Speaker_06
and it's done so skillfully that you don't realise. And it's like this, the secret that's there. I wanted to believe that, you know, that

00:07:41 Speaker_06
whatever they were doing, even if it seemed gross to me, was for some spiritual reason that I couldn't yet understand. Revealing the hidden secrets of a global yoga network. I feel that I have no other choice.

00:07:56 Speaker_06
The only thing I can do is to speak about this and to put my reputation and everything else on the line. I want truth and justice. and for other people to not be hurt, for things to be different in the future.

00:08:18 Speaker_06
To bring it into the light and almost alchemise some of that evil stuff that went on and take back the power.

00:08:28 Speaker_03
World of Secrets Season 6, The Bad Guru. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.