Last summer, Maya Edwards and her husband called the Washington State Department of Licensing hoping to speak with someone in Spanish.

A solid Spanish accent, like Alfred Molina uses to portray Diego Rivera in “Frida,” makes a performance all the more believable. A questionable one, however, like Al Pacino uses as Tony Montana in ...

Callers to Washington state’s driver’s license agency who select automated service in Spanish have instead been hearing an AI voice speaking English with a strong Spanish accent. The voice ...

The Washington Department of Licensing recently corrected a technical glitch that caused its automated phone system to answer Spanish-language requests in English with a Spanish accent.