AI voice bots challenge human call center jobs: analyst
MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Journalist and podcaster Evan Ratliff, creator of Shell Game, recently joined Derek Gallimore on The Outsource Accelerator Podcast to explore the growing role of AI voice bots in the call center industry.
Ratliff’s podcast investigates the impact of voice-based AI on jobs, relationships, and trust by using his own voice clone in a series of experiments.
“I wanted to investigate what kind of impact voice-based AI [will] have on our lives,” Ratliff explained. His experiments included using an AI voice agent to interact with customer service lines and even his friends and family, raising questions about trust and authenticity in a world increasingly populated by artificial voices.
Strengths and weaknesses of AI voice technology
Ratliff noted that while AI voice bots are effective for structured tasks, they face significant challenges in natural conversations.
“They’re at their best when given a very tight prompt,” he said. However, latency—a noticeable delay caused by processing speech into text and back into audio—remains a key limitation.
Additionally, these bots struggle with emotional intelligence, often failing to respond appropriately in dynamic or empathetic interactions.
“They struggle with emotional types of conversation, anything like making jokes or laughing when they’re supposed to laugh,” Ratliff added.
Security and ethical risks of AI in customer service
The rise of AI voice bots has also sparked ethical concerns. Ratliff highlighted their misuse in scams, revealing that 30-40% of unsolicited calls now begin with AI systems. These tools are particularly attractive to scammers due to their scalability and efficiency in targeting large volumes of people.
“I’ve covered a lot of the intersection of technology and crime. They’re just an ideal technology for scamming because scamming has become a volume game,” Ratliff warned.
“There are all these creative criminal ways of using it and they’re going to be at the forefront no matter what happens with the technology.”
Future of AI voice bots in call centers
Despite these challenges, many businesses are adopting AI voice bots to appear innovative. However, Ratliff cautioned against undervaluing human workers, whose emotional depth and adaptability remain irreplaceable.
He rated current AI technology as “six out of 10,” suggesting that achieving human-like interaction could take years.
As companies integrate these tools, the focus will likely shift toward balancing automation with the unique value of human interaction. For now, AI voice bots represent a promising yet imperfect solution in customer service innovation.
