title: "It's not a representation of me": Examining Accent Bias and Digital
    Exclusion in Synthetic AI Voice Services
summary: Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) speech generation and voice
  cloning technologies have produced naturalistic speech and accurate voice
  replication, yet their influence on sociotechnical systems across diverse
  accents and linguistic traits is not fully understood. This study evaluates two
  synthetic AI voice services (Speechify and ElevenLabs) through a mixed methods
  approach using surveys and interviews to assess technical performance and
  uncover how users' lived experiences influence their perceptions of accent
  variations in these speech technologies. Our findings reveal technical
  performance disparities across five regional, English-language accents and
  demonstrate how current speech generation technologies may inadvertently
  reinforce linguistic privilege and accent-based discrimination, potentially
  creating new forms of digital exclusion. Overall, our study highlights the need
  for inclusive design and regulation by providing actionable insights for
  developers, policymakers, and organizations to ensure equitable and socially
  responsible AI speech technologies.
paper_authors._id: 67fe7287ebac3e14798967e0
paper_authors.name: Shira Michel
paper_authors.status: extracted_confirmed
paper_authors.statusLastChangedAt: 2025-04-15T15:04:12.728Z
paper_authors._id: 67a294ef40d06a4933cf8ee0
paper_authors.avatarUrl: https://cdn-avatars.huggingface.co/v1/production/uploads/67a294ef40d06a4933cf8ee0/DOSrrLI8MtRSe35IweIyL.jpeg
paper_authors.fullname: Shira Michel
paper_authors.type: user
paper_authors.user: shiramichel
paper_authors._id: 67fe7287ebac3e14798967e1
paper_authors.name: Sufi Kaur
paper_authors._id: 67fe7287ebac3e14798967e2
paper_authors.name: Sarah Elizabeth Gillespie
paper_authors._id: 67fe7287ebac3e14798967e3
paper_authors.name: Jeffrey Gleason
paper_authors._id: 67fe7287ebac3e14798967e4
paper_authors.name: Christo Wilson
paper_authors._id: 67fe7287ebac3e14798967e5
paper_authors.name: Avijit Ghosh
paper_authors.status: claimed_verified
paper_authors.statusLastChangedAt: 2025-04-18T09:40:28.482Z
paper_authors._id: 6413251362e6057cbb6259bd
paper_authors.avatarUrl: https://cdn-avatars.huggingface.co/v1/production/uploads/6413251362e6057cbb6259bd/rPwZpEXzoTCVq07w_vDYz.png
paper_authors.fullname: Avijit Ghosh
paper_authors.type: user
paper_authors.user: evijit
paper_title: "It's not a representation of me": Examining Accent Bias and Digital
    Exclusion in Synthetic AI Voice Services
paper_summary: Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) speech generation and voice
  cloning technologies have produced naturalistic speech and accurate voice
  replication, yet their influence on sociotechnical systems across diverse
  accents and linguistic traits is not fully understood. This study evaluates two
  synthetic AI voice services (Speechify and ElevenLabs) through a mixed methods
  approach using surveys and interviews to assess technical performance and
  uncover how users' lived experiences influence their perceptions of accent
  variations in these speech technologies. Our findings reveal technical
  performance disparities across five regional, English-language accents and
  demonstrate how current speech generation technologies may inadvertently
  reinforce linguistic privilege and accent-based discrimination, potentially
  creating new forms of digital exclusion. Overall, our study highlights the need
  for inclusive design and regulation by providing actionable insights for
  developers, policymakers, and organizations to ensure equitable and socially
  responsible AI speech technologies.
paper_ai_summary: Evaluation of AI speech services shows performance disparities across accents, possibly reinforcing linguistic privilege and digital exclusion, emphasizing the need for inclusive design and regulation.
paper_ai_keywords: AI speech generation voice cloning naturalistic speech voice replication sociotechnical systems regional accents linguistic traits technical performance accent variations linguistic privilege accent-based discrimination digital exclusion inclusive design regulation