New survey reveals how polite we are to AI assistants ahead of new Alexa launch

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Do you say “please” and “thank you” to Alexa? What about ChatGPT?

While AI assistants are designed to execute commands without the need for social niceties, a new survey suggests that a significant number of people still treat AI interactions with human-like politeness.

Whether out of habit, respect, or a cautious hedge against the possibility of an eventual robot uprising, our collective etiquette towards AI seems to be evolving. And this new data comes at an interesting time, as Amazon's big Alexa event is tomorrow, February 25th.

The rise of AI politeness

James Wong views indoor plant camera on Amazon Echo Show — (Image credit: Amazon)

A new study conducted by Future Publishing with 510 participants from the US and 518 participants from the UK reveals that more than 55% of respondents say they consistently use polite language when interacting with AI, up from 49% in the previous survey.

This increase suggests that as AI becomes more integrated into daily life, more users are instinctively treating their virtual assistants as conversational partners rather than mere tools.

Some users even take their politeness to a humorous extreme. In the survey, 12% of respondents admitted that their courtesy stems from a tongue-in-cheek fear of a future “robot uprising,” a drop from 18% in the last poll.

While this response is clearly playful, it highlights the way AI is increasingly perceived as something more than just a faceless algorithm — it’s a presence in our homes, offices, and smartphones.

The bot etiquette skeptics

(Image credit: Adobe Firefly 3/Future generated AI image)

Not everyone believes in extending social graces to artificial intelligence. The number of respondents who take a more direct approach — choosing to forgo politeness for the sake of efficiency—has risen from 15% to 20%.

Another 13% state flatly that they don’t see AI as worthy of politeness, viewing it as no different from a kitchen appliance or any other inanimate tool.

This segment of users seems to embrace the core reality of AI: It doesn’t have feelings. Virtual assistants aren’t offended by blunt commands, and for many, taking the extra time to add “please” and “thank you” feels unnecessary.

Still, the rise in AI courtesy suggests that, for a growing number of people, speaking to AI without social norms feels unnatural.

What’s driving the AI attitude shift?

The increase in politeness towards AI could be due to several factors. As humans, we are hardwired to be polite. From childhood, we’re taught to be polite when making requests. For many, saying “Hey Siri, set an alarm, please” just feels more natural than issuing a cold directive.

Many parents model politeness when speaking to AI in front of their children, reinforcing respectful communication even in digital interactions. There’s a growing concern that children raised with AI assistants might learn to issue demands without courtesy, potentially influencing their real-world interactions with people.

As AI assistants become more sophisticated and natural-sounding, they feel less like basic tools and more like conversational entities. The more human-like the interaction, the more likely users are to default to typical social behavior.

Additionally, AI is taking on more responsibilities, from customer service to healthcare assistance, which may prompt people to subconsciously believe AI interactions carry more weight than in the past.

Being polite to AI today could be a sign of an emerging mindset where humans and AI collaborate more closely.

The future of AI interactions

The fact that more people are being polite to AI — even as others reject the idea —suggests that our relationship with technology is evolving. AI may not require politeness, but the way we interact with it could shape the way AI is designed in the future.

Will AI models be built to respond better to courteous users? Could AI-driven customer service prioritize helpfulness based on the politeness of the request?

Amazon is holding a devices and services event tomorrow, which undoubtedly means we're going to see a major Alexa upgrade. Either way, it's evident that this trend in etiquette towards AI reveals something about us as humans.

Whether out of habit, humor, or genuine respect, many people are choosing to treat AI interactions as they would human ones. And even if AI doesn’t appreciate the effort, it seems that more and more users do.

So, do you say “please” and “thank you” to your AI assistant? Share your thoughts in the comments.