Kicker: Lost in translation

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NICK EICHER, HOST: A government helpline run by the state of Washington offered callers a familiar choice:

AUDIO: I just called the DOL and they’re like, "press one for English, press two for Spanish."

Which seems pretty straightforward, but evidently, not quite.

For months, callers who pressed 2 did not get Spanish. What they got instead was something that could charitably be called Spanglish?

AUDIO: Thank you for calling the Department of Licensing Customer Support Center. For assistance with an upcoming appointment, please press uno.

Can you believe it? Please press uno!

One user posted the AI glitch online after noticing.

AUDIO: Tell me why it stays in English but switches to a Hispanic accent?

I'll take a shot at that: Because it made a hilarious mistake, that's why!

Washington’s Department of Licensing later apologized and said it fixed el problema. Because pressing 2 for Spanish should get you Spanish, not English in a fake mustache.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

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