hondawin How AI is changing call centers in the Philippines
The AI revolution may seem farfetched or unbelievable to somehondawin, especially to those who aren’t tech-savvy.
However, call centers in the Philippines experience its transformative impact today, for better and worse.
A report from the non-profit publication Rest of World showed a glimpse into the daily life of a call center agent working with AI.
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: Call center AI and the Philippine BPO sector
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What’s it like working with AI in call centers?New story out!"It's like we've become the robots," says one BPO employee. In the Philippines, advanced AI tools — including those with language recognition, emotion recognition, and generative intelligence — have made work more demanding. https://t.co/ekOo3OsYaB
— Michael Beltran (@maykelbelts) November 27, 2024The report started with a correspondence with Renzo Bahala, a customer service agent for a US credit card company.
Article continues after this advertisementBahala told Rest of World that artificial intelligence monitors his calls and increased the number he answers daily.
Article continues after this advertisementPreviously, he answered 30 calls per eight-hour shift. Nowadays, he covers that many before lunchtime.
Article continues after this advertisementHe receives help from his AI “co-pilot,” an assistant that pulls up caller info and shares suggestions in real-time.
“The co-pilot is helpful,” Bahala continued, “But I have to please the AI.”
Article continues after this advertisement“The average handling time for each call is five to seven minutes. I can’t go beyond that. It’s like we’ve become the robots.”
Bahala said the program scores him on the following criteria:
Tone Pitch The mood of the call Use of positive language Avoiding interrupting or speaking over a caller How long did he put the caller on hold How quickly he resolves issuesDespite the AI’s tight supervision, his base pay remains fixed.
Also, continually underperforming could mean probation, the loss of incentives, or even termination.
“AI is supposed to make our lives easier, but I just see it as my boss,” Bahala stated.
Another BPO employee in Manila, who remained anonymous in the Rest of World report, stated she already lost her job to generative AI.
Previously, she went from writing one original article weekly to 20 in 2023 using ChatGPT.
Often, the articles had inaccuracies that the writers struggled to revise.
“Backlogs would pile up, sometimes from the month before,” she told the news publication.
“Managers would keep reminding us to finish. It was never-ending.”
READ: Human creativity and its future amidst AI advancements
Eight of the 10-member team, including her, lost their jobs in March.
Nowadays, the employee works as a trust and safety analyst at an Accenture call center.
She verifies AI-generated data for Facebook’s parent company, Meta.
Latest figures on AI and Philippine call centers“If you don't upskill, obviously, AI will replace you.”The experiences of the Philippines’ call center staff are a preview of the challenges coming soon to white-collar workers around the globe.Read The Big Take ⬇️ https://t.co/JeSXcvrW1P
— Bloomberg (@business) September 1, 2024The Philippines leads the world in AI adoption and the call center industry.
Here are some of the latest data from various sources:
86% of Filipino white-collar workers use AI to “boost productivity, efficiency and creativity,” according to the 2024 Work Trend Index Two-thirds of BPO companies that are members of the IT & Business Association of the Philippines are already using AI, says IBPAP head of AI Dominic Ligot 300,000 could lose their jobs to AI in the next five years, according to labor secretary Bienvenido Laguesma. Fortunately, Laguesma told the Inquirer the technology could create 100,000 new jobs in roles like data creation. 8% of firms reported workforce reductions due to AI implementation, according to a recent IBPAP surveyLocal experts are split over AI’s impact on call centers.
For example, Paul Quintos, a political economist at the University of the Philippines who studies the BPO sector, stated:
“AI increases workers’ productivity with little to no improvement in terms of wages. It even intensifies the pressure on workers to perform like machines.”
On the other hand, Benjamin Velasco, assistant professor at the University of the Philippines – Diliman, has a more positive view.
He told BPO company Outsource Accelerator that automation may displace jobs, but new ones will replace them.
“Others like chatbots will have a labor displacement effect. But like other tech, it will destroy but also create jobs. People are needed to train AI.”
Leonardo Lanzona, an economics professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, reiterated that the country needs private and public sector collaboration.
READ: YGG head of Future of Work discusses AI dapps
This joint initiative will ensure that AI adoption leads to job creation rather than unemployment.
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“We need to be selective about the types of technology we will adapt… so that it creates new jobshondawin,” Lanzona said.
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