When I visited India, there were people who spoke English to me with such a strong accent that I didn’t even realize that they were speaking English. Bias against people speaking with an Indian accent is real, but so is the need to facilitate communication.
I totally agree with you. I can’t read the article because it requires an account. What I’m concerned about is the highly likely anglo-centric nature of this tool; as in it likely only alters the Indian accent for the convenience of the english speaking customer and likely does nothing to facilitate the work for the employee whose first language is likely not english.
Also, white North Americans are already culturally sheltered enough as it is, last thing I think we need is automation that neutralizes manifestations of culture for the sake of convenient communication.
Yeah, it would be great to adjust accents on demand. When I speak a foreign (to me) language, I would like to be understood, and adjusting my accent for the listener can really help smooh over my tongue fumbling over unfamiliar sounds.
When I visited India, there were people who spoke English to me with such a strong accent that I didn’t even realize that they were speaking English. Bias against people speaking with an Indian accent is real, but so is the need to facilitate communication.
I totally agree with you. I can’t read the article because it requires an account. What I’m concerned about is the highly likely anglo-centric nature of this tool; as in it likely only alters the Indian accent for the convenience of the english speaking customer and likely does nothing to facilitate the work for the employee whose first language is likely not english.
Also, white North Americans are already culturally sheltered enough as it is, last thing I think we need is automation that neutralizes manifestations of culture for the sake of convenient communication.
Yeah, it would be great to adjust accents on demand. When I speak a foreign (to me) language, I would like to be understood, and adjusting my accent for the listener can really help smooh over my tongue fumbling over unfamiliar sounds.