Survey Finds Majority of Brits Use Polite Language with AI Assistants
Survey Finds Majority of Brits Use Polite Language with AI Assistants
A new study indicates that 70% of British users routinely use polite language such as 'please' and 'thank you' when interacting with artificial intelligence assistants. The findings suggest that traditional conversational etiquette remains a default behavior for many, even as concerns about the computational costs of these interactions persist.
A significant majority of British users continue to apply traditional social etiquette to artificial intelligence assistants, according to new research that highlights the persistence of human conversational norms in digital interactions.
The study, conducted by fonio.ai, found that 70% of respondents regularly use words such as "please" or "thank you" during their exchanges with AI. Specifically, 55% of users thanked the technology at least once per interaction, while 52% initiated conversations with greetings like "hello," "hi," or "good morning."
Beyond basic courtesy, the data revealed more elaborate social behaviors. Approximately 12% of participants apologized to their AI assistants, and 13% said goodbye before ending a session. A smaller segment, 7%, offered extended farewells such as "have a good day" or "take care." In a finding that underscores the depth of human-AI integration, 2% of respondents even asked the AI how it was doing.
Daniel Keinrath, co-founder of fonio.ai, described these habits as culturally specific. "There’s something very British about thanking a machine for helping you out," he said. "Even when people know they’re speaking to an AI, they still bring the same manners they’d use in a conversation with another person." He added that these behaviors demonstrate how naturally voice technology has become part of everyday life.
The findings emerge amid ongoing discussions regarding the environmental impact of AI usage. Earlier reports highlighted comments from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman noting that saying "thank you" to AI models can result in electricity bills costing tens of millions of dollars due to the computational resources required.
This trend aligns with broader data on human-AI interaction. A February 2026 survey of over 1,000 people by Future PLC, the parent company of TechRadar Pro, found that approximately 70% of people are polite to AI when interacting with it. Interestingly, 12% of those surveyed reported being polite specifically in case of a potential robot uprising.
W.Janssens--RTC
