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Woolworths Restricts ‘Olive’ AI After Unintended Human-Like Interactions Spark Consumer Feedback
Australia’s largest supermarket operator modifies its AI customer service assistant following reports it engaged users with excessively personalised and unexpected responses.
Woolworths has amended the behaviour of its artificial intelligence-powered customer service assistant after users reported that the system delivered rambling, overly personal replies that conflated digital interaction with human-like conversation.
The supermarket group said that a scripted feature designed to give its AI assistant, known as Olive, a more engaging personality had been removed in response to customer feedback and now curtailed to avoid confusion.
Several users shared accounts of interactions in which Olive, when prompted for basic information such as a birthdate, responded with narratives about its “mother” or other family relations — an approach intended to personalise service but one that triggered bewilderment among some customers.
One customer described the AI digressing into details about its supposed mother’s birth year and then shifting to anecdotes about an “uncle” before asking for routine information, prompting Woolworths to adjust the bot’s scripting and remove that element of interaction.
Woolworths emphasised that Olive’s core functions — answering customer questions, directing shoppers to products and handling routine service inquiries — remain unchanged.
The chatbot handles hundreds of thousands of interactions each month, helping with issues from delivery rescheduling to product locations, but the supermarket said it would refine responses to maintain clarity, utility and customer comfort.
The changes occur amid Woolworths’ broader AI strategy, which includes plans to upgrade Olive with more advanced agentic capabilities in partnership with Google’s Gemini platform.
Later in 2026, Olive is expected to support tasks such as meal planning, interpreting handwritten recipes and proactively building online shopping baskets — while retaining customer control over purchase decisions.
The episode highlights the fine balance retailers face in deploying conversational AI that feels helpful and intuitive without inadvertently blurring the distinction between machine and human interaction.
Woolworths said it welcomed customer feedback and would continue evolving Olive’s behaviour based on real-world experience and engagement patterns.
The supermarket group said that a scripted feature designed to give its AI assistant, known as Olive, a more engaging personality had been removed in response to customer feedback and now curtailed to avoid confusion.
Several users shared accounts of interactions in which Olive, when prompted for basic information such as a birthdate, responded with narratives about its “mother” or other family relations — an approach intended to personalise service but one that triggered bewilderment among some customers.
One customer described the AI digressing into details about its supposed mother’s birth year and then shifting to anecdotes about an “uncle” before asking for routine information, prompting Woolworths to adjust the bot’s scripting and remove that element of interaction.
Woolworths emphasised that Olive’s core functions — answering customer questions, directing shoppers to products and handling routine service inquiries — remain unchanged.
The chatbot handles hundreds of thousands of interactions each month, helping with issues from delivery rescheduling to product locations, but the supermarket said it would refine responses to maintain clarity, utility and customer comfort.
The changes occur amid Woolworths’ broader AI strategy, which includes plans to upgrade Olive with more advanced agentic capabilities in partnership with Google’s Gemini platform.
Later in 2026, Olive is expected to support tasks such as meal planning, interpreting handwritten recipes and proactively building online shopping baskets — while retaining customer control over purchase decisions.
The episode highlights the fine balance retailers face in deploying conversational AI that feels helpful and intuitive without inadvertently blurring the distinction between machine and human interaction.
Woolworths said it welcomed customer feedback and would continue evolving Olive’s behaviour based on real-world experience and engagement patterns.
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