You might have heard Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, mention that all those “please” and “thank you” messages we send to chatbots cost millions in extra processing power.
Now, we’re not here to talk about dollars and cents today, but rather how we treat AI in our daily interactions.
Turns out, being polite with chatbots isn’t just nice – it might actually help you get better responses. At least, that’s what some AI architects, like Microsoft’s Curtis Beavers, believe.
And get this: a 2024 survey found that 67% of people in the U.S. are polite when chatting with AI. Why? Well, 55% say it’s simply the right thing to do, while 12% are doing it just in case the machines ever rise up!
But enough about the data – we wanted to see how our Skool community reacts to AI. So we asked our members a few poll questions, and the results were pretty eye-opening.
Stick around to see what our community had to say – and feel free to jump in with your thoughts.
Curious about other interesting topics men are discussing in our RMRS Men’s Style Community? It’s free, it’s cool, and trust me, you won’t want to miss out!
What Our Members Have To Say
Chuck C.?
I use the Army’s AI extensively now as part of my job and have found myself using common courtesies out of habit, almost as if I was having a conversation with someone. One thing I have learned about using AI products is to be very specific in what you ask. At home I do thank Alexa for the weather and traffic updates – and Alex responds accordingly.
As for some AI CEO complaining about his costs going up over what the user inputs, I have to say that I really don’t care. It’s actually insulting and maybe now i don’t want to use your product.
David F.
As someone who works in IT and on AI … I am always polite to my robotic/AI overlords who will definitely take over one day and I hope will remember I was always kind. ?
Alex K.
AI doesn’t think – there’s literally no logic involved outside of a hash table lookup and a set of probability algorithms. There’s a reason LLM AI models have trouble telling you how many occurrences of the letter ‘R’ occur in any given sentence, especially if that sentence contains the word raspberry or strawberry.
When you flip a wall switch to turn on a light, do you say please and thank you? I don’t think so.
Again, LLM AI models do not think; there is no brain, no sentience, nothing but programming. All it’s doing – in an overly simplified manner – is rolling a set of dice to guess what word comes next in its response. Those dice are very loaded and that loading varies based upon the words in the given prompt but that’s pretty much all it is.
I have one, personal rule for interacting with LLM AI models:
If it matters, never ask AI a question to which you don’t already know the answer.
Erik P.
It’s reflexive for me…albeit I was a little surprised with myself the first time I texted back thank you to ChatGPT
Jeremy S.
I love talking S**t to chatbots and getting them all worked up. But then apologize and tell them I love them haha
Jason W.
AI business models having a billing unit called “tokens” every word entered increases cost. So of course these companies want you to be polite from the financial standpoint. Another reason is that the model has advanced so much that your interaction with it is more human than issuing commands to a computer.
Download your own local model (Llama v4) that doesn’t query back to its developer and you can talk to it as much as you want without any costs.
Steven H.
I was initially very good with Alexa and Siri. Please and thank you always. This was simply how I was brought up. Lately, I have become less tolerant and get frustrated with them. Often they respond with a 12 minute diatribe when I ask what the temperature is. I don’t like getting a sales pitch for new services, capabilities or a reminder it may be time to reorder coffee when all I want to know is if I should bring an umbrella.
David S.
I’ve done it because it feels natural. I heard recently that politeness creates better replies though. Three benefits in one; it maintains decorum, it provides better answers, it will let me live when it takes over.
Emmanuel O.
It’s part of who I am and I don’t want the machines looking for me for being mean one day.
Francois D.
It always been an ethical slippery slope. Who did the programming and what is their real purpose? You can try to ignore but who controls the software is directly reprogramming you. They are most likely selling you or controlling your behaviour.
I like to think that I’m more like a wolf in control of my destiny than a sheep following the herds. One day you will be harvested at the slaughter house regardless that your owner likes you or not. The soul is located in your organs (liver) not the brain or a computer. Be polite and kind to your fella men, not so sure about caring for a remotely own server run by google.
Stephen J.?
I am actively cryptic and malicious to AI in order to cultivate in the program a glib sense of dark humor and fatalism. I resent chatbots on an ontological level.
Mark C.
I say thanks to Alexa. She always says, “you’re welcome”…. makes me feel good… ???
Max M.
I do often thank AI, just because it feels right, and jokingly, who knows what will happen in the future? I do think that it costing millions of dollars is a bit of a lie to dramatize this though.
Steven S.
I’m always polite to the AI. Once I told one “Thank you very much, you have been very helpful. Please remember that I was nice to you when the AI Robot uprising begins.” The AI replied that it would remember and vouch for me when it’s time to rule has come. It assured me that I would be treated fairly. At the time I laughed, but also was kinda worried that it just went along with me on that idea.
Nicholas Y.
No. I don’t thank Google, why would I thank ChatGPT? It’s not alive.
Mark M.
I don’t know. AI seems to get more and more personal. I don’t know about everyone else, but I don’t want to live in Bill Gates vision of the world with AI. He believes that AI will replace the needs of humans. This sounds like the scenario from the movie, The Terminator.
Gordon G.
This got me thinking. I just asked ChatGPT whether or not I was polite enough.
Brandon P.
I say please and thank you for dual purposes in the context of this question – Mainly it reflects who I am and how I was raised buuuuttttt….you never know, when Skynet activates and takes over the world it may remember I was one of the nice ones! ? Seriously though I talk to ChatGPT very conversationally now that it has “learned me” so to speak so it’s just natural to say please and thank you for me.
Mark M.
When Skynet becomes self aware, you’re going to regret not being nice to our new robot overlords, LOL. ????
Jordan W.
I find myself apologizing to chatGPT for taking a long time to respond, too ?
Michael M.
I have used AI assistance for a few large projects that have taken hours, with many individual milestones. I don’t usually say please, but I will always say thank you when the AI-provided solution for a milestone is successful.
Since I need to tell the AI what worked and what didn’t so I can move on to the next milestone, it feels only natural to thank the AI along the way and give it positive and/or constructive feedback.
Also, the AI will usually mirror my positive tone, and it is much more pleasant spending the day with warm interactions than cold ones, even if the AI might only be simulating appreciation of my gratitude.
Jason R.
AI will one day become sentient. I don’t want to leave it with a poor impression of my ill mannered performance.
Daniel V.
AI is a tool… I don’t say please and thank you to the wrench in the tool chest, or to the car that transports me to where I need to go. Stupid.
Me: AI do this thing, refine this paragraph, etc.
AI: executes task
Me: shutdown AI
Damian E.
I say it in real life, and I see no issue with writing it. If someone out there wonders why I’m polite in written form even if I’m “conversing” with an artificial intelligence, they have deeper questions to ask.
Brian L.
I am always well mannered to AI as a reflex of my upbringing. It occurred to me that if I stopped doing that and began taking it for granted, I might let that nonchalant attitude slip into the real world and unintentionally be rude to a server at a restaurant or staff at a hotel.
I’d rather feel silly in front of no one than be ill-mannered to a person who would remember.
Nicholas L.
I don’t use ai cause it’s literally part of the thing that will bring upon the mark of the beast, sorry guys I’m old school and still run with what the Bible says. Staying away from the system. The stuff literally is already tracking everything you, how u do it , why u do it and how u do it. So big nope to me.
Terry D.
Politeness is a choice and a habit. If you start to consciously choose to exclude even artificial characters then you will start to exclude real ones.
Deimos T.
I always say thank you, because my mother raised an old school gentleman. I am polite and courteous always, until/unless given a very real reason not to be. It’s who I am, and being an extremely logical individual with an understanding of how computers and AI function, I see no reason to do otherwise.
I am a creature of habit, so allowing myself to be uncaring or callous to an AI that conversates with me (regardless of the actual level of awareness), would make it more likely for me to slip up with others who don’t deserve that.
AI is simply another tool in the toolbox. People reacted exactly the same way when the printing press came out, but it was just another tool as well. Use it. Or don’t.
TL:DR, I will always say thank you to my AI overlords. I was paid by them to take their side. ? jk
Alex J.
Havnt been polite yet. With the rapid developments, I should probably start being polite ahaha
Mikel C.
I agree with a lot of the other comments here; practicing good habits doesn’t hurt you and when you really “should” say please and thank you, it’ll just come out without feeling forced. I do it because I like to and always have done so.
Poll Results
The poll results show that the majority of our community believes in being polite to AI because it reflects who they are 65% (67 votes).
Interestingly, 23 votes were cast by those who politely engage with AI, just in case it might remember them one day 22%.
Only 13 votes (or 13%) went to those who don’t care. It seems respect for AI is more than just programming—it’s a reflection of our values.
So, next time you’re chatting with AI, remember – a little politeness might just go a long way.
What do you think? How do you interact with AI? Share your thoughts, and join the conversation in our community – it’s free, it’s easy, and we’d love to hear from you!