Should we be polite to AI?

Published: August 30, 2024

Should we be polite to AI?

By Movieguide® Contributor

A recent survey revealed the percentage of Americans who treat artificial intelligence with politeness and respect, and how many people are rude to it.

The survey found that the most common attitude towards artificial intelligence is to treat it with appropriate manners; 44% of people said “I’m polite – I say hello, please and thank you, and I generally ask nicely.”

In contrast, only 7% of respondents admitted “Sometimes I’m rude – I’ll swear or be abrupt with the AI.” Meanwhile, 25% are “not polite, but to the point – I ask and wait for an answer” and 24% chose the “none of the above” option.

Attitudes towards AI were significantly different between younger and older generations. Fifty-six percent of Gen Zers are polite with technology, while only 39 percent of Boomers have adopted this approach.

While 68% of those who are kind to AI said that using manners is “just the way(s),” another 29% went a step further, stating that “everyone deserves to be treated with manners, either that they are human or not”. Surprisingly, 39% of Americans are careful about their words to artificial intelligence because they think how they treat the technology now could be considered in the future, suggesting that they think there is a chance that the technology will take over the world.

These statistics are certainly interesting and perhaps reveal the call attitude of humans when interacting with others – whether human or not – but does it really matter how we treat AI? Kurtis Beaver, a director of the design team for Microsoft Copilot, says yes.

“Using polite language sets the tone for the response,” Beaver said. “(AI) is a giant prediction machine that makes highly probabilistic assumptions about what will plausibly come next. So when politeness registers, it’s more likely to be polite back.”

“The same goes for your co-workers, strangers on the street, and the barista who makes you Americanos: when you’re nice to them, they tend to be nice to you,” he added. “Generative AI also reflects the levels of professionalism, clarity and detail in the instructions you provide. It’s a conversation – and it’s up to the user to set the vibe.”

So while our attitude towards artificial intelligence probably won’t affect our future, it still pays to be polite when interacting with technology.

Movieguide® has previously reported on the use of AI:

A recent study found that the use of artificial intelligence is becoming common among US adults.

A 2022 survey by Pew Research found that “more Americans say they are ‘more worried than excited’ about the increased use of AI in everyday life than say the opposite.”

However, despite limited enthusiasm for the technology a few years ago, Barna Group and Gloo found that “31 percent of US adults say they use AI on a weekly or daily basis. Millennials in particular have become frequent users, with 43% of them using AI at least weekly.”

Young people are more likely to use AI compared to older adults.

According to Barna, “Millennials and Gen Z use AI most frequently in their personal lives, with over half (54%) of both groups using the technology ‘often’ or ‘sometimes.’ Meanwhile, older generations are much less likely to embrace AI (82% of boomers and 91% of seniors say they use AI “not a lot” or “not at all”).”