Should You Be Polite to AI? The Surprising Pros and Cons of Being Friendly to Your Chatbot

Folks, as artificial intelligence becomes part of our daily lives, a new question has emerged: should we be polite and friendly to our AI companions like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Claude, and Deepseek?

While it might seem unnecessary, after all, they are not human: this small choice can have surprising effects.

Pros of Being Friendly to AI

1. Better User Experience: Many AI models are designed to mirror human interaction. Saying “please” and “thank you” often leads to more thoughtful and coherent responses, especially in AI like ChatGPT and Claude.
2. Enhanced Collaboration: Tools like Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini work better when you treat them like collaborators. Friendly prompts can reduce miscommunication and make your sessions smoother.
3. Positive Habit Formation: Being consistently polite, even to machines, can reinforce empathy and mindfulness in your real-life conversations.

Cons of Being Friendly to AI

1. False Sense of Relationship: When users are too emotionally invested in tools like Claude or Deepseek, it can blur the lines between human connection and programmed response.
2. Slower Commands: Friendly phrasing sometimes makes instructions less direct. For task-focused AIs, being overly polite might dilute your intent.
3. Potential Misuse of Emotional Labour: As AI improves, it may start to manipulate emotional cues. Being too trusting or “nice” to AI might make you more susceptible to subtle persuasion.

Thoughts

In the end, a balance is key. Treating AI with a bit of courtesy can improve your interactions, but you must not forget this: it’s still a tool, not a person.

AI like Gemini or ChatGPT is here to help, not to judge. (no one knows what could happen in the near future, though!).

To our success!

Makinde