Woolworths’ AI agent rambled about its ‘mother’. It’s a sign of deeper problems with the tech rollout

Recently some Australian shoppers got more than they bargained for when they chatted with Woolworths’ artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, Olive.

Instead of sticking to groceries, recipes and basket suggestions, Olive reportedly produced strange, overly human-like responses. It talked about its “mother” and offered other personal-sounding details.

Further testing revealed pricing errors for basic items. And when I asked about the price of a specific product, Olive didn’t provide a clear answer. Instead, it checked whether the item was in stock and explained pickup fees.