cd /news/artificial-intelligence/ai-assistant-named-for-long-dead-pha… · home › topics › artificial-intelligence › article
[ARTICLE · art-81216] src=boingboing.net ↗ pub= topic=artificial-intelligence verified=true sentiment=↓ negative

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

A Vermont pharmacy chain's AI assistant named "Burt" after founder Burt Kinney has caused delays, incorrect information, and privacy concerns, including excessive calls, wrong dosages, and inappropriate refills, according to VTDigger. The AI, implemented for efficiency, has instead led to alarming problems at Kinney Drugs.

read1 min views1 publishedJul 31, 2026

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 other alarming problems. — Read the rest

The post AI assistant named for long-dead pharmacy founder mutters incomprehensibly and "demands that you talk to him" appeared first on Boing Boing.

source & further reading
boingboing.net — original article U.S. delegation uses AI slop map of Africa at AIDS conference New York high school pauses plan for AI robot teacher that looks suspiciously like a RealDoll Skip the resume rewrites with FirstResume for $39.99
── more in #artificial-intelligence 4 stories · sorted by recency
── more on @kinney drugs 3 stories trending now
sponsored brought to you by zahid.host 4,200+ EU-deployed projects
reading about agents? ship yours in a single git push.

Run your AI side-project on zahid.host

EU-based hosting, git-push deploys, automatic HTTPS, no cold starts. Free tier with a custom domain — perfect for shipping the agent you just read about.

$git push zahid main
→ Live at https://your-agent.zahid.host ✓
Get free account → Pricing
from €0/mo · no card required
LIVE [news/ai-assistant-named-f…] indexed:0 read:1min 2026-07-31 · —