Washington state hotline callers hear AI voice with Spanish accent – AP News
12 hours ago
- #Accessibility
- #AI
- #Technology
- Callers to Washington state hotline pressing 2 for Spanish received AI English with a Spanish accent instead.
- The issue persisted for months before being fixed by the Washington Department of Licensing.
- Maya Edwards highlighted the problem after her husband encountered it, leading to widespread attention on TikTok.
- The Department of Licensing apologized, attributing the error to staff and newer AI-driven technology.
- Amazon's platform, specifically the 'Polly' service with the 'Lucia' voice, was identified as the source of the accented English.
- The problem raised concerns about accessibility for non-English speakers.