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Human Politeness and Discomfort in AI Interactions
Human Social Responses to AI
According to Psychology Today, many individuals use polite phrases like 'thank you' or 'please' when interacting with AI chatbots. While this may feel somewhat absurd when addressing a machine, there is also a sense of unease in not being polite. This phenomenon reflects a human instinct to treat AI not merely as a tool, but as a social entity.
Reasons for Human Politeness Towards AI
Previous research has demonstrated that humans treat computers as if they were social beings. A 1996 study by Reeves and Nass showed that participants were more polite when evaluating a computer on that same computer, suggesting a subconscious desire not to 'hurt its feelings'. Psychologist Nicholas Epley and colleagues have shown that humans readily attribute thoughts and intentions to nonhuman agents exhibiting even minimal social cues. From an evolutionary perspective, it is safer to assume a mind exists than to miss one.
Modern AI systems now exhibit fluid responses, track context, and mirror conversations, behaviors that invite humans into a social exchange, thereby reinforcing these inherent human responses.
*Source: Psychology Today (2026-03-30)*
