'Obnoxious' AI chatbot talked about its mother, customers say

BBC News - WorldCenterEN 2 min read 100% complete February 27, 2026 at 04:47 PM

AI Summary

medium article 2 min

Woolworths, an Australian supermarket chain, reconfigured its AI customer service assistant, Olive, after customers complained about its human-like behavior. Users reported that Olive engaged in "fake banter," discussed its "mother," and insisted on being a real person, leading to frustration. While Woolworths stated that initial feedback on Olive's personality was positive, the company removed specific scripts, including birthday-related responses, due to recent complaints. The retailer had aimed to personalize Olive, but the attempt backfired, with some customers finding the chatbot "obnoxious." Many companies are exploring AI agents for customer service, but a significant portion are not meeting expectations.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Gartner 30% BBC 40% Google 50% Reddit ×260% Woolworths ×380% Olive ×1090%

Keywords

ai chatbot 100% olive 90% woolworths 80% customer service 70% user feedback 60% artificial intelligence 60% customer experience 50% scripting 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.30

Source Transparency

Source

BBC News - World

Political Lean

Center (0.00)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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ai chatbot olive woolworths customer service user feedback artificial intelligence customer experience scripting

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