Washington State’s Hotline Faces Unexpected AI Glitch

For several months, callers to the Washington state Department of Licensing seeking automated service in Spanish encountered an unexpected glitch. The automated system delivered messages in English, albeit with a heavy Spanish accent. The department has apologized and remedied the issue.

Maya Edwards, a Washington resident, experienced this glitch when her husband, who is bilingual, selected the Spanish option to access driver’s license information more swiftly. The wait time for English-speaking customer service representatives was lengthy.

Edwards likened the experience to a comedic scene from “Parks and Recreation,” a show that satirizes local government. “It was laughable in the moment, yet it posed serious accessibility concerns for individuals relying on non-English languages,” Edwards commented. Upon re-dialing the number, Edwards found the issue persisted and subsequently shared a video on TikTok, garnering approximately 2 million views.

The Washington Department of Licensing announced on Friday that it addressed the glitch, attributing it to its staff. The self-service feature offers support in ten languages and operates on advanced, AI-powered technology. The agency issued an apology, acknowledging the inconvenience caused by these service expansions leading to unexpected problems.

An unfortunate byproduct of expanding services is that DOL found problems with the self-service option.

It remains uncertain whether other languages were impacted by the AI flaw. Attempts by The Associated Press to access the service in different languages did not trigger similar accented responses.

As of Thursday morning, callers still encountered the accented voice after a message hinted at ongoing translation service disruptions. An AP reporter attempting the Spanish option heard English with a Spanish accent interspersed with Spanish numbers. The voice stated that the estimated wait time was “less than tres minutes.”

The Department of Licensing utilizes a platform provided by Amazon for their phone services. AP journalists replicated the glitch using Amazon Web Services’ Polly, selecting the “Lucia” voice, which mimics Castilian Spanish. Amazon did not immediately respond to comments.

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