Last summer, Maya Edwards and her husband called the Washington State Department of Licensing hoping to speak with someone in Spanish.
But when they selected the Spanish self-service option, the first thing they heard wasn’t Spanish. It was an automated voice speaking English with a Hispanic accent.
“It was totally unexpected, but not totally surprising, given the rise of the use of AI and automated systems,” Edwards said. “But it is more surprising to me that nobody checked it.”
Edwards, who resides in Kitsap County, posted a video on TikTok last week that has since received more than 1.8 million views and 284,000 likes. The video shows the couple calling the department’s Spanish self-service menu, shocked over what they heard.
She said the video was originally filmed and posted on TikTok July 29, 2025, but it received little engagement at the time. After calling again this year and realizing the issue had not been fixed, she reposted it last week to raise awareness.
Since then, thousands of people have liked and commented—many finding the situation humorously shocking.
“Me when I lie on my resume and still get the job,” one user said.
“I’m glad you had the proof because I would’ve NEVER believed this,” another said.
The Spokesman-Review and Spokane Public Radio called and selected the Spanish-language option Tuesday morning to confirm Edwards’ report, finding it to be accurate. The other language options were also in English.
Later that day, an automated voice message at the beginning of the call acknowledged issues with the language self-service option.
Christine Anthony, communication manager for the Washington Department of Licensing, sent a statement in response, stating the department is working to fix the issue.
“It has come to the Department of Licensing’s attention that some self-service options for language interpretation, which are performed through automated voiceovers, are being provided in English,” Anthony stated. This is due to technical issues, and we are working to fix them as quickly as we can. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Nathan Olson, director of communications for the agency, said in an additional statement that the self-service option is run on newer technology and “is being upgraded and testing on all languages is being done.”
“We are still examining how this happened and how it can be fixed. Once those are complete we will then figure out how responses were given in English with a Spanish accent,” Olson wrote.
“When the self-service option is running smoothly, it will be restarted,” he said.
Edwards said her husband, a Mexican citizen, was in the process of getting his green card and Washington driver’s license, which is why they were calling and requesting to speak to them in Spanish.
“Luckily, he is fully bilingual, so it didn’t impact our accessibility, but I can only imagine how many people it has impacted who don’t speak English,” Edwards said.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, an estimated 38.5%, or about 263,387, of Spanish-speaking Washingtonians speak limited English.
In Spokane, an estimated 7.8% of residents are Latino, and about 2.8% speak primarily Spanish at home, according to the 2025 city of Spokane’s Racially Disparate Impacts Analysis.
“I feel for all of the immigrants who face challenges, and failures of the system like this every day and have to find ways to work around them,” Edwards said.
