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Politeness to AI: A useful prompt technique or a human habit?

While some users naturally adopt polite language with AI chatbots, the practice is debated. Research suggests that polite prompts can sometimes yield more detailed and thoughtful responses from AI models, not because the AI appreciates manners, but because politeness often correlates with more careful human communication patterns in training data. Conversely, critics argue that treating AI with human-like etiquette is unnecessary, potentially wastes computational resources, and risks blurring the lines between tools and sentient beings. AI

IMPACT This discussion highlights how user interaction styles can influence AI output, suggesting that politeness might be a pragmatic prompt engineering technique.

RANK_REASON The article discusses the social and practical implications of user interaction with AI, offering opinions and citing research without announcing a new product or model.

Read on Forbes — Innovation →

AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 1 sources. How we write summaries →

Politeness to AI: A useful prompt technique or a human habit?

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Commentary
The article discusses the social and practical implications of user interaction with AI, offering opinions and citing research without announcing a new product or model.
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opinion, product
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High
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110 days old
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COVERAGE [1]

  1. Forbes — Innovation TIER_1 English(EN) · Bernard Marr, Contributor ·

    Should You Really Say Please And Thank You To AI?

    Millions of people now say please and thank you to AI chatbots, but does politeness actually improve the answers or simply waste time and energy?