Woolworths Group, an Australian supermarket chain, has reportedly revised its AI customer service assistant after shoppers complained that the bot appeared to present itself as human and engaged in overly personal conversations. The company said it updated the scripting of its virtual assistant, Olive, following customer feedback. The company noted that while most reactions to Olive’s personality have been “very positive,” certain scripted responses were removed after complaints.

Users on Reddit and X said the chatbot’s attempts at friendly banter crossed the line. Some reported that Olive referenced “memories of its mother” or claimed personal experiences. One Reddit user wrote, “The fake banter made me haaaaate [sic] it,” while another said the bot began discussing how its mother was born in the same year after being given a birth date for verification. A separate user said Olive “started talking about its memories of its mother and her angry voice” and “kept claiming to be a real person.”

A spokesperson for Woolworths told the BBC that the birthday-related responses had been authored by a staff member several years ago as a way to make the chatbot feel more personable.

“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.”

The incident underscores the challenges retailers face as they increasingly deploy AI-powered assistants to handle routine customer inquiries. In January, Woolworths announced a partnership with Google to expand Olive’s capabilities, including meal planning and sourcing ingredients from user-submitted recipes.