"For months, callers to the Washington state Department of Licensing who have requested automated service in Spanish have instead heard an AI voice speaking English in a strong Spanish accent. The agency has since apologized and says it fixed the problem."
"It was hilarious to us in the moment because it was so absurd. But at the same time, it has real accessibility issues for people who call in every day and need to speak in a different language other than English."
"The Washington Department of Licensing said Friday in a statement that it fixed the glitch after determining it was caused by DOL staff. It noted that the self-service option includes 10 languages and runs on a newer, AI-driven technology."
The Washington Department of Licensing experienced a significant error in its automated phone system where callers requesting Spanish-language service heard an AI voice speaking English with a strong Spanish accent instead of actual Spanish. The problem persisted for months before gaining public attention when a resident posted a video to TikTok that accumulated approximately 2 million views. While the error was absurd and humorous to some, it created genuine accessibility issues for non-English speakers needing assistance. The agency attributed the glitch to staff error and stated it was caused by newer AI-driven technology. The Department of Licensing apologized for the inconvenience and confirmed the issue was resolved.
#ai-technology-error #accessibility-issues #government-services #language-services #customer-service
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]