Call centres: Are you talking to AI

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Introduction Have you ever phoned up a company and had your call held in a queue? Could AI make this less painful? Pippa and Phil discuss this and teach you some new vocabulary. This week's question Approximately how many people work in call centres globally?  a) 7 million? b) 17 million? or, c) 27 million? Listen to the programme to hear the answer. Vocabulary yelling shouting pacify (someone) calm down someone who is angry in the near future very soon, within a short time as a matter of fact used to add emphasis to a statement, to give more detail about what has just been said, or to introduce something that contrasts with it empathetic able to put yourself into someone else’s position and share their feelings or experiences you know (filler word) used to give the speaker time to think, or to express uncertainty TRANSCRIPT Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript. Phil Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Phil. Pippa 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: AI call agent Hello. Your call is important to us. You are number 89 in the queue. If you'd like to continue to hold, press 1. If you'd like to return to the main menu, press 0. Pippa How do you feel when your phone call is put on hold, Phil? Phil 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. Pippa 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. And this is causing problems in countries like India and the Philippines, where call centre jobs make up a big part of the economy. Phil 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. And remember you can read along with the programme, and find the list of new words and phrases, by visiting our website, bbclearningenglish.com. Pippa 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. So, approximately how many people work in call centres globally, Phil? Is it: a)    7 million? b)    17 million? or, c)    27 million? Phil I think b) 17 million. Pippa OK, well you'll have to listen to the end to find out the answer. Now, one worker worried about the impact of AI on jobs in the Philippines is Mylene Cabalona, president of the call centre workers' union, B.I.E.N. Here, she tells BBC World Service programme, 'Tech Life', about some of the difficulties of her job, and why she fears for the future:  Mylene Cabalona 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 also… 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. It's going to displace workers… you know, eventually, in the near future. Even, as a matter of fact, there's been a study that says that about 300,000 workers or around 27% of workers that's going to be displaced because of AI, and that's slowly happening. Phil Call centre work involves dealing with customers who've 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. Pippa If that wasn't stressful enough, Mylene's conversations are monitored by AI systems to see how well she fixes her clients' problems. 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'. Phil Mylene emphasises her fears about being replaced by giving details about a study she read, which claimed that 27% of workers will be displaced by AI. She uses the phrase, as a matter of fact, to emphasise what she's saying, and to give more detail as evidence to support it. Pippa 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': Mylene Cabalona 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.  Phil 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. Pippa If you listen carefully to Mylene's speech, you'll notice she says, "you know", a lot.  Phrases like, "you know","um" and "ah" are called filler words and are used to give the speaker time to think, or to express uncertainty. 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. Phil And I said 17 million. Pippa Which is the right answer. OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned in this programme, starting with yelling, another word for shouting. Phil To pacify someone means to calm them down when they're angry. Pippa In the near future means very soon, or within a short time. Phil 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. Pippa If you're empathetic, you're able to put yourself in someone else's position and share their feelings or experiences. Phil 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! Pippa Bye!