Callers to Washington state hotline press 2 for Spanish and get accented AI English instead

SEATTLE (AP) — Press 2 for Spanish ... accent?

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.

Washington resident Maya Edwards learned of the AI-accented voice last summer after her Mexican husband tried using the Spanish-language option while seeking information about his driver’s license. He is bilingual but saw that the wait time for speaking to a customer service representative in English was long, so he hit 2 for Spanish.

For Edwards, it was a like a scene out of “ Parks and Recreation,” a mockumentary-style comedy show that satires local government.

“It was hilarious to us in the moment because it was so absurd,” she 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 different language other than English.”

When Edwards called the number again this month, she found that the error persisted. She posted a video of the call to TikTok, racking up around 2 million views.

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.

“DOL apologizes for the error and to its customers for any inconvenience,” the agency said in a separate statement the previous day. “An unfortunate byproduct of expanding services is that DOL found problems with the self-service option.”

It was not immediately clear if the issue affected other languages; efforts by The Associated Press to use the phone service in some of the other languages did not prompt additional accented voices.

As of Thursday morning, the call line still put on the voice after a message, in English, acknowledging that the some translation services were not functioning properly.

An AP reporter followed prompts for Spanish-language options and was met with a voice speaking accented English that used Spanish only for numbers.

“Your estimated wait time is less than ‘tres’ minutes,” the voice said.

DOL said Amazon provides the platform for the phone service and declined interview requests. AP journalists were able to replicate the voice by using an Amazon Web Services feature called Polly and selecting a voice called “Lucia,” which mimics Castilian Spanish.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Associated Press data journalist Aaron Kessler in Washington contributed.

Washington resident Maya Edwards is interviewed via Zoom on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo)

DENVER (AP) — A Frontier Airlines plane hit and killed a pedestrian on the runway of the Denver International Airport during takeoff, airport authorities said, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate.

The plane, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday," the airport's official X account wrote.

A spokesperson for the airport said the pedestrian, who jumped a perimeter fence, has died. They said the unidentified person was hit two minutes after entering the airport. The person is not believed to be an airport employee.

“We're stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the control tower according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”

The pilot tells the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board and that an “individual was walking across the runway.”

The air traffic controller responds that they are “rolling the trucks now" before the pilot tells the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.”

Frontier Airlines said in a statement flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.” It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the crash with the pedestrian.

“The Airbus A321 was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members,” the airline said. “We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities.”

Passengers were then evacuated via slides and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal. The airport spokesperson said 12 passengers suffered minor injuries and five were taken to local hospitals.

Denver Airport said the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified and that runway 17L, where the incident took place, will remain closed while an investigation is conducted. It is expected to open later today.

The pedestrian death came a day after a Delta Air Lines employee was killed while on the job at the Orlando International Airport. In a statement, the airline said the employee was killed Thursday night without providing details of the incident nor the name of the employee.

“We are focused on extending our full support to family and taking care of our Orlando team during this difficult time,” the airline said. "We are working with local authorities as a full investigation gets underway to determine what occurred.”

FILE - A Frontier Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for take off from Denver International airport on Nov. 25, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)