AI assistant named for long-dead pharmacy founder mutters incomprehensibly and "demands that you talk to him"

Kinney Drugs customers in rural Vermont report daily calls, wrong dosages and unwanted refills since the tool launched in May.

Burt Kinney (left) and Burt the AI assistant (right)

A Vermont pharmacy chain's new AI assistant led not to the efficiency improvements promised but to "delays, incorrect information and privacy concerns." The AI, named "Burt" after the chain's long-dead founder, is said to call excessively, get dosages wrong and suggest inappropriate refills, among othe…