在呼叫中心上班，免不了經(jīng)常面對客戶的怒吼和指責，長此以往確實會令人崩潰。為了減輕呼叫中心員工的壓力，日本一家公司研發(fā)出了一款人工智能變聲器，可以檢測出憤怒的尖叫聲并將其轉(zhuǎn)化為語調(diào)溫柔的聲音。

A Japanese company has developed an artificial intelligence filter that can detect angry screams and translate them into calm speech in order to reduce the stress experienced by call center operators.
一家日本公司研發(fā)出一款人工智能變聲器，可以檢測出憤怒的尖叫聲并將其轉(zhuǎn)化為平和的話語，從而減輕呼叫中心操作員感受到的壓力。

Large tech companies have long been aware of the stress their call center operators are exposed to every single day, with many customers taking out their anger and frustrations on them. Some of them have even introduced stress management programs that include relaxation techniques, meditation, yoga, or therapy meant to irritability and anxiety. However, one Japanese company may have come up with a much more efficient solution – using AI to completely take screaming and aggressive speech out of the equation. SoftBank claims to have spent three years creating a voice filter that detects screaming and automatically translates it into calm speech.
長期以來，大型科技公司一直都很清楚他們的呼叫中心操作員每天承受的壓力，許多客戶都把自己的怒火和沮喪發(fā)泄到他們身上。一些公司甚至引入了包括放松技巧、冥想、瑜伽或減少易怒和焦慮情緒的理療在內(nèi)的壓力管理方案。不過，日本軟銀公司或許找到了一個有效得多的解決方案——運用人工智能將尖叫和攻擊性的聲音“消除”。該公司聲稱耗時三年研發(fā)出了一款可以檢測出尖叫聲并將其自動轉(zhuǎn)化為平和話語的變聲器。

SoftBank’s voice filter consists of two stages, one in which the AI identifies an angry voice and extracts key points of speech, and a second where it uses acoustic tools to transform it into a more natural, even polite tone. Interestingly, the filter doesn’t change any of the words spoken by the person, but significantly softens the intonation. The call center operator will still hear any insults uttered, only in a soft tone, which should help reduce their stress and anxiety.
軟銀公司的變聲器分兩步進行，第一步，人工智能識別出憤怒的聲音并提取出講話要點，第二步，用聲學工具將其轉(zhuǎn)化為語調(diào)更自然、甚至更禮貌的聲音。有趣的是，變聲器不會改變說話者說出的任何字詞，但是會讓這些話的語調(diào)變溫柔很多。呼叫中心操作員仍然可以聽到對方說的任何侮辱性話語，只是聽到的語調(diào)很柔和，這應該有助于減輕呼叫中心操作員的壓力和焦慮情緒。

To train the AI, SoftBank’s engineers asked 10 actors to record at least 100 common phrases including screams, accusations, threats, and demands for an apology. In total, more than 10,000 pieces of voice data were used to train the AI filter.
為了訓練人工智能，軟銀公司的工程師請10名演員錄制了至少100個常用短語，包括尖叫、指責、威脅和要求道歉，訓練過程中總共使用了超1萬條聲音數(shù)據(jù)。

It’s unclear when SoftBank plans to implement the new scream-filtering AI into its call centers, but it will be interesting to see how well it works and how it impacts the emotional wellbeing of operators.
目前尚不清楚軟銀公司計劃何時將這款新的智能尖叫變聲器應用到呼叫中心，但是到時候看到其效果以及對呼叫中心操作員情感健康的影響應該會很有趣。

英文來源：Oddity Central

翻譯&編輯：丹妮

審校：齊磊、董靜