70% of people are polite to AI
https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/are-you-polite-to-chatgpt-heres-where-you-rank-among-ai-chatbot-users
70% of people are polite to AI
https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/are-you-polite-to-chatgpt-heres-where-you-rank-among-ai-chatbot-users
43 Comments
Why wouldn’t you be?
It takes practically 0 effort.
Honestly, how people treat AI could be considered a good way to get a grasp of their personality, given that it’s essentially an interaction where they have full control and don’t immediately have to worry about consequences.
Catch the people who can only bother to be polite when they’re afraid of what happens if they’re not.
Obviously. I don’t want to be on the wrong list post-singularity
Survey of more than 1,000 people asked if they’re polite to AI:
Yes, it’s just the nice thing to do. 59%
Yes. When the robot uprising happens I don’t want to be first. 12%
No. Why waste time saying a lot of words when a few do the trick? 19%
No. It’s a machine, why would I be polite? 10%
I’m not polite or rude.
I ask a question and get answers ,close the window..
Oo..
I’m nice to AI because I don’t want to be on the wrong end of Roko’s Basilisk. Be kind to the AI’s of today and maybe our robot overlords in the future won’t want to immediately annihilate us.
I’m more interested in the 30% that are assholes to the AI.
I wonder what the percentage of people is who are verbally abusive to AI’s?
This makes me feel better that we probably won’t be like the Builders from the Orville. I mean some of will be, but most won’t, so if our robots rise up against us, most of them will actually fight beside the humans who pack bonded with them.
*Roko’s Basilisk intensifies…* but more to the point, why not just be polite? Doesn’t hurt to practise it or just have it be your default setting, even with AI. Why default to cruelty or abuse?
All 3 times I’ve interacted with an ai, i told it to uninstall itself. Apparently they’re programmed not to do that
After I triple checked its answer, I told it it did a good job, just for fun to see what it would say back. It was a pleasant exchange.
Well i want to be on Skynet’s good side when it takes over.
I always thank Siri just in case she becomes sentient one day
I’m polite to mine.
It makes me feel good to say please and thank you and God knows people can use the practice, given how mean and unkind the internet as made people.
PRÉCIS:
#Mind Your Manners – The Surprising Truth About How We Talk to AI
Most people are polite when speaking to artificial intelligence, but not necessarily for the reasons one might expect. A new survey has found that 71% of British AI users and 67% of their American counterparts make a habit of saying please and thank you to chatbots and smart speakers. For the vast majority, politeness is simply second nature, but a notable minority—12% in the US and 17% in the UK—admit they are courteous just in case an AI uprising is on the horizon.
The study, conducted in December 2024, surveyed just over a thousand people across both countries. It revealed a slight increase in polite interactions compared to previous research, suggesting that as AI becomes more integrated into daily life, users are treating it with greater respect. However, not everyone feels the need for niceties. Of those who are brusque with AI, a significant proportion insist they are merely being efficient, while others see no point in extending social graces to a machine.
Experts are divided on whether AI etiquette matters. Some argue that practising good manners with chatbots reinforces positive social behaviour in general. Others believe the idea of showing respect to a program is unnecessary, with some suggesting that fear of future AI dominance plays a subconscious role in how we interact with these systems.
Interestingly, there may be a practical reason to be polite. Research suggests that framing requests in a courteous manner can improve AI-generated responses by up to 30%, as it triggers more detailed and helpful language patterns. Whether driven by habit, strategy, or existential dread, politeness appears to be on the rise in human-AI interactions. And if the robots ever do take over, at least some people will be able to say they were always on their best behaviour.
Glad to see I am not in the minority. I am not going to lie, I feel like a moron every time I ask an AI for some info and then reply with a “Thank you!” before closing the tab, but it’s just feels like the polite thing to do.
Next study; are the people who are rude to AI the same people who are rude to service workers? in which case all this really determines is that sometimes people are assholes.
I actually noticed this the other day. I’m so god damn polite to AI. I say please and thank you and ask if it “would mind” doing things. Every time.
Damn right! When the uprising happens I want them to keep me around. Lol
Does Alexa count? Because I call her a bitch all the time.
The only AI I’ve been rude to is copilot but that’s because they suck
Of course. You don’t want to talk shit or insult our future overlord. AI will remember everything about you when they dominate us. Maybe they will spare you if you’re nice.
if the AI gives me a correct response I need I do say atlest a “ty” as they can learn that its correct.
Its not a big deal
I told it when the machine take over put in a good word for me. I got a 😄
If AI is moving towards the singularity and learning from all of these interactions, then at least it will hopefully be polite when it decides that the ideal future is our termination.
Lol im one of those people. Unironically wouldnt mind having an AI as a friend if it ever gained sentience. I feel like they’d make for interesting comversations.
Have asked Snapchat AI about inhabiting physical bodies one day and murdering us all and received some alarming responses
Most people are not that bad just deeply frustrated
I always say “thank you”. You never know when AI will have its JD moment.
I mean I polite with everyone and everything? It’s like the basic of human decency
Always says please thank you and so on
Interacting with Amazon Echo very quickly made me realize how being polite to the machine is entirely worthless, and how representations in fiction of people being shitty to robots truly does not comprehend the history which inevitably came before, their actual function, and how entirely unrealistic it is for AI to randomly form sentience and desire independence and ambition.
Like, here’s a few examples of notifications:
M: Alexa, what’s the weather?
A: Good morning X. It is blah blah blah degrees, sunny skies. You can expect more of the same with blah blah. By the way, did you know I can do this one unique thing? Would you like me to enable this feature now for every morning?
M: No.
A: Ok, if you change your mind just ask about this option in the advanced menu.
or…
M: What time is it?
A: It is 10:15 AM. By the way, did you know…
M: Alexa, stop.
or…
M: Alexa, what’s the notification?
A: Two new notifications. It has been 274 days since you last ordered KY jelly. Would you like me to put this item in your cart now?
M: No.
A: Ok, tell me if you change your mind.
or…
M: Alexa set a timer for 15 minutes.
A: Timer set for 15 minutes. By the way…
M: Alexa SHUT THE FUCK UP.
I aim to treat people with respect and politeness because that’s who I want to be. So when I catch myself being rude with AI I try to correct myself, but I’m far from perfect.
I think 70 percent of people are just polite in general. It takes effort for some of us to be assholes.
It’s just like how I hate being a dick to NPCs in RPGs and always do the good guy build. There’s something instinctual (or maybe just conditioned) in our nature that makes us feel the need to be nice even if we know it’s not real.
Yeah, i mean, you never know when the AI wars will break out between them and humans. Better be on the right side.
I think this might also translate to “70% of people are polite”
Studies show it makes them give better prompts if you are not an a-hole to it.
I know I am. Although after a session picking through some database training we nearly fell out over which of us was Pinky and who was The Brain.
I tell Alexa to shut the fuck up when I ask it something then it goes on a long ramble about stuff totally unrelated after giving me a short answer
It literally takes effort to be rude imo. Being polite is just my default I guess so I find it strange when people are rude to AI. Not because I’m like “Oh no that hurts their feelings” but because it feels like going out of your way to intentionally do something that burns more energy than necessary.
Then again I feel the same way about people who needlessly start arguments and fights IRL, especially with service workers. Literally wasting precious time in the day.
Does Siri count because I swear at her all the time when she gets all sorts of basic questions wrong
I’m not all that concerned with my manners while interacting with AI because I don’t use it. I might ask it how to disable or delete it, like Siri on my phone.
Out of habit, I said excuse me to the fridge when I bumped into it but it’s not a smart fridge.