AI Tips: Should AI say 'Please' and 'Thanks'? Experts explain whether or not to do so...

Nowadays, people are using words like "please" and "thank you" when interacting with artificial intelligence (AI). But is it necessary to show this courtesy to AI? Does it matter? American AI expert Cliff Jurkiewicz has said that AI doesn't need to be polite because it's a tool, not a human. His statement has sparked debate. A survey found that 67% of people in the US and 71% in the UK show courtesy when interacting with AI. Most say it feels right. Some people jokingly say that if AI becomes our boss in the future, courtesy will be useful. But Andrew Lenson, an AI expert at Victoria University in New Zealand, says this habit comes from our online interactions. We are polite when asking humans for help, and the same behavior applies to AI.

What do experts think?
According to RNZ, psychologist Dougal Sutherland believes that showing courtesy to AI is not a bad thing. This helps us maintain respect and manners even in the digital world. But Cliff Jurkiewicz believes this could blur the line between human and machine. Especially for the younger generation, who have grown up with social media and the loneliness of COVID, this confusion could be dangerous. He says that social media has already conditioned us to the wrong kind of human relationships.

Such conversations teach children manners.
Harvard researcher Ying Xu says that most children understand that AI is a machine, not a human. Her research found that even children as young as four understand this difference. But there is some evidence that children can repeat the words they learn from AI in real life. For example, Amazon's Alexa has a 'Polite Mode' in which, when children say 'please,' Alexa replies, 'Thank you for asking so nicely.' This could teach children manners, but it could also blur the line between machine and human.

More words consume more power.
Microsoft designer Curtis Beevers says that politeness can make AI responses better and more respectful. However, Lenson says it depends on how the AI ​​is trained. Jurkiewicz believes that saying "please" or "thank you" doesn't affect the quality of the response. The data centers that run AI consume a lot of electricity. Jurkiewicz estimates that if everyone in the US spoke politely to AI, it could consume one gigawatt of electricity a year. Therefore, communicating with AI in fewer words could save electricity.

Does AI matter?
RNZ asked AIs like ChatGPT, CoPilot, and Gemini how important politeness is. All said, politeness doesn't matter to them because they don't have emotions. But they also say that your tone can influence the conversation.

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