Spanish Language Option Glitch in Washington State Department of Licensing

For several months, callers selecting the Spanish-language service at the Washington state Department of Licensing (DOL) have encountered an unusual issue. Instead of receiving services in Spanish, users heard an AI-generated English voice with a strong Spanish accent. This problem has become widely noticed, prompting the agency to issue an apology and correct the error.

Maya Edwards, a Washington resident, discovered the glitch after her Mexican husband opted for the Spanish-language service while trying to obtain information about his driver’s license. He is fluent in both English and Spanish but chose Spanish due to long wait times for English-speaking representatives. Edwards compared the experience to a comedic moment from the show “Parks and Recreation,” which pokes fun at local government operations.

Upon calling the line again recently, Edwards found the error still persisted. She recorded the call and shared it on TikTok, where it gained significant attention, reaching around 2 million views.

In response, the DOL released a statement indicating they have resolved the issue. The problem was linked back to a staff error during the implementation of new, AI-driven technology that supports ten languages. The agency acknowledged the inconvenience caused and stated that the rollout of expanded services inadvertently introduced this glitch.

The Associated Press attempted to use the phone service in other supported languages but did not encounter additional accented voices. However, as of the latest checks, the call system still played an English message advising that some translation services were not fully operational. A reporter from the AP noted that selecting Spanish options resulted in a voice speaking English with a Spanish accent, using Spanish only for the numbers. An example included the estimated wait time communicated as “Your estimated wait time is less than ‘tres’ minutes.”

The platform for the phone service is provided by Amazon, specifically utilizing Amazon Web Services’ feature called Polly. This feature includes a voice option named “Lucia,” which mimics a Castilian Spanish accent. Despite attempts to reach them, Amazon has not responded to requests for comment.

Associated Press data journalist Aaron Kessler contributed to this report from Washington.