OLYMPIA, Wash.
For months, Spanish-speaking callers to the Washington state Department of Licensing who pressed 2 for automated service were met with something unexpected: an AI-generated voice speaking English in a thick Spanish accent.
The glitch, which has since been fixed, left some callers confused and others frustrated—but at least one family found the situation so bizarre it reminded them of a comedy show.
Maya Edwards, a Washington resident, first encountered the problem last summer when her Mexican husband tried using the Spanish-language option to get information about his driver’s license.
Though bilingual, he noticed the wait time for an English-speaking representative was long and opted to press 2 for Spanish, hoping for a quicker resolution.
Instead, he got an AI voice reading English text with a synthetic Spanish accent.
“It was hilarious to us in the moment because it was so absurd,” Edwards said Thursday. “But at the same time, it has real accessibility issues for people who call in every day and need to speak in a language other than English.”
By James Kisoo
