Will This Eliminate Our Southern Accents?

 OK. People who know me know I was born a Yankee. A New York City Yankee on top of that. But I've lived here in Alabama since 1976....mostly without an accent....yankee OR southern. (Though when I think it will help me, I can let some southern sneak in...)

     But now, as CNN reports, a  computer program using AI is allowing people to speak with their accented English (for example), but be heard is the language without an accent. And yes, call-centers are interested, as they should be!

(a company official)... "says he knows people's accents and identities can be closely linked, and he stresses that the company isn't trying to erase accents, or imply that one way of speaking is better than another.

"We allow people to not have to change the way they speak to hold a position, to hold a job. Identity and accents is critical. They're intertwined," he says. "You never want someone to change their accent just to satisfy someone."

Currently Sanas' algorithm can convert English to and from American, Australian, British, Filipino, Indian and Spanish accents, and the team is planning to add more. They can add a new accent to the system by training a neural network with audio recordings from professional actors and other data -- a process that takes several weeks."

See the full CNN story HERE.