The Politeness Paradox: Do Voice Assistants and AIs Deserve Our Courtesy?

The question of whether we should be polite to voice assistants and artificial intelligence systems has sparked a thought-provoking discussion. A reader from Toronto, Alison Williams, shared her habit of saying 'please' and 'thank you' to her Alexa, despite being certain that the device doesn't care.

This raises a broader inquiry: Is it worth being polite to artificial assistants? While these systems may not possess consciousness or emotions, the act of being polite may reflect more on human behavior and social norms than on the machines themselves.

Readers are invited to share their thoughts and responses can be posted below or emailed to [email protected]. A selection of responses will be published in a future edition.