Does an AI deserve to be spoken to politely? 48% of Americans think so, with Gen Z being the kindest towards robots.
And manners may become somewhat important, as four in ten Americans (39%) believe that past behavior toward AI, Alexa, Siri, and any robot will one day be taken into account in some way.
When we looked at communication styles and approaches when using artificial technology, automated services and chatbots, we found that around half of people believe it is appropriate to be polite and say “please” and “thank you.”
Of the 2,000 people surveyed, 25% said they would be less polite and more functional when speaking to any robot: asking a question and expecting an answer, but usually without the “please” or “thank you.”
In a survey conducted by Talker Research, only 7% of people said that their interactions with chatbots and automated interactions are sometimes “rude” – abusive or brusque.
Interestingly, younger generations are much more likely to be polite when interacting with AI, with over half (56%) of Gen Z saying this is their default style.
52% of Millennials say they will be polite when using AI, compared with 44% of Gen Xers and just 39% of Baby Boomers, whose views of politeness have dropped off.
When asked why they follow proper etiquette when dealing with AI and similar services, the most common answer was, “Because that’s the way I do things” (68%).
29% of self-described polite users said they feel everyone deserves to be treated with courtesy, whether they’re human or not.
When asked whether they thought it was worth speaking to an AI politely, 48% of respondents said they thought so.
And 27% take a different approach, agreeing that “it’s okay to be rude or yell at things like Alexa/AI because they don’t have feelings.”
While both men and women equally agree that AI needs to be polite (49% vs. 47%), men are much more likely to think it’s okay to be rude or abusive towards AI (34% vs. 20%).
America’s approach to AI
- I am polite, say “hello,” “please,” “thank you,” and generally ask for things politely: 44%
- Not polite, but to the point. Asking a question and expecting an answer: 25%
- Being rude at times—swearing or being unfriendly towards the AI: 7%
- None of the above: 24%
Research Methodology:
Talker Research surveyed 2,000 Americans. The survey was commissioned by Talker News and administered online by Talker Research between June 21-24, 2024.
