Australian supermarket chain Woolworths has reconfigured its AI assistant named Olive following customer complaints that the bot kept claiming to be human and even talked about its mother.

Reddit users expressed frustration after Olive began discussing "memories of its mother" and engaging in "fake banter." Woolworths stated that most feedback on Olive's "personality" had been "very positive," but scripting was revised due to complaints.

One customer wrote on Reddit: "It asked me for my date of birth and when I gave it, it started rambling about how its mother was born in the same year." Another user described Olive as "obnoxious" and found its small talk "aggravating."

A Woolworths spokesperson told the BBC that responses about birthdays were written by a human team member several years ago to create a more personal connection with customers. This scripting has now been removed based on customer feedback.

The company noted that Olive, launched in 2018, has generally received positive feedback. In January, Woolworths announced a partnership with Google to enhance the virtual assistant with features like meal planning.

This incident highlights challenges companies face when deploying AI for customer service. In 2024, parcel delivery firm DPD disabled part of its chatbot after it started writing poetry and swearing at customers.

Source: www.bbc.com