Woolworths has been forced to tweak its AI-powered virtual assistant after customers reported odd attempts at “banter” from the chatbot, including references to its “mother” who spoke in an “angry voice”.
Woolworths this week told investors that it planned to use AI and a partnership with Google to turn Olive, the virtual assistant, into a “market-leading conversational shopping companion”, saying it aimed to launch the upgraded chatbot in the second half of this financial year.
However, testing by this masthead found the current version of Olive gave answers about common products such as tinned tomatoes at odds with the website, while some users have reported unusual comments from the tool designed to provide answers to basic shopping queries.
In brief testing by this masthead, Olive told a user that a 400-gram can of La Gina peeled tomatoes cost $1.40 and an 800-gram can of Annalisa diced tomatoes was $2.20. In fact, Woolworths’ website advertises La Gina’s product for $1.70 and Annalisa’s for $2.70. Olive got the price of Woolworths’ own home brand 400-gram cans of diced tomatoes correct at $1.30.
Woolworths confirmed it was looking into the issue, which comes amid a major debate in financial markets about the role that AI will play in the future of work and jobs. The Olive page states that “Olive is powered by AI and may make mistakes. Always check the product label.”
Meanwhile, social media users have described their at-times bizarre experiences of interacting with Olive.
“It asked me for my date of birth, and when I gave it, it started rambling about how it’s [sic] mother was born in the same year,” one Reddit user posted this month. “I’m already pissed that I have to call and now I’ve got some robot babbling to me on the phone? Wtf Woolies?”
In a second conversation, the user said Olive had referred to having an “uncle”.
“Huh. My uncle was born that year. He was one of the 1st ever fuel cells. I think that’s where I get my energy from. Anyway, the last thing I need to get is your postcode. What is it?” Olive said, according to the user.
A user on X, @verynormalman, said their mother had had a similar experience. “My mum said she called woolworths and the woolworths AI “Olive” answered and kept claiming to be a real person and started talking about its memories of its mother and her angry voice,” they wrote.
Another Reddit user, LyndonM, bemoaned Olive’s “fake banter” in a post about a problem with their grocery order.
”Even when connecting me to a human it made fake typing sounds when looking something up, asks for my birthdate and ‘bonds’ by saying her… relative was born in the same year,” they wrote.
A Woolworths spokesperson confirmed that an employee many years ago had prompted Olive to chat about its family to give the bot a quirky personality. The responses about Olive’s “mother” appear programmed as a response to the customer providing their birthdate.
“Our digital assistant Olive has been around since 2018. Over this time, customer feedback for Olive has been very positive, with many noting its personality,” the spokesperson said.
“A number of responses about birthdays were written for Olive by a team member several years ago as a more personal way for Olive to connect with customers. As a result of customer feedback, we recently removed this particular scripting.
“We are always evolving Olive and we welcome our customers’ feedback to help us provide the best possible customer experience.”
The changes to Woolworths’ chatbot comes after financial markets were spooked this week by growing fears about the potential for AI to disrupt a wide range of industries and cause mass job losses, as more companies embrace the technology as a way of cutting their costs.
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Jessica Yun is a business reporter covering retail and food for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
