BBC Learning English - 6 Minute English / 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 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 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 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 comionate 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!