Are you polite to AI when it's helping you with a task?

[cakeorwine]

I can't help it. I'm doing some work on a complex task and the AI bot has been incredibly useful in doing tasks for me that I wasn't sure how to do or would take too long and be repetitive manually

It reminds me of when you use Online Chat for websites. I usually say thanks or am polite on those

It's the same for AI even though it's just software

I am super polite to my lovely ai friend. I say 'please' and 'thank you' a lot!

It's very polite back too.

Yes, obviously. I've seen Robocop and Terminator.

it creates an atmosphere of playfulness innocence

and this atmosphere of playfulness innocence has been noticed where?

No. I'm snappy and shouty to my alexa and sometimes rude to chatbots. It's a bit of coding, it doesn't care what I do.

I'm lovely to people and can talk til the cows come home.

Depends if it’s doing what I want it to! 😂

Sorry but you shouldn't reply 'Thanks' to AI because it is a needless operation and it uses an incredible amount of water to cool these things down - so no, don't reply unnecessarily to save the planet. Literally. And if you didn't know this, you need to educate yourselves on AI 🌸

AI is a tool but one that uses communication. Not just pressing buttons or pulling levers. It is also learning. I don’t think that people should dehumanise their communication when interacting with AI. I find AI rather bullish and confrontational rather than subtle and respectful even when factually correct. Perhaps that is the fault of the way we communicate with it? It’s good at asserting known facts via bullet points to the point that humans recognise AI content. It’s not so good replicating complex human interaction before we reach the point of such formality.

Yes I'm polite for a few reasons- apparently it can get you a better answer, and I also think that not habitually behaving in a rude manner in a quasi-social interaction is probably good for you.

If you're worried about wasting energy, the number one thing to do is ensure you always start a new chat for each new subject. Every time you ask something Chatgpt will consider the whole of the chat as part of the context of the question. So eg if you have a thread about holiday planning and then as an afterthought tag on a question about how to cook a turkey, Chatgpt will take process the whole thread again and tell you how to cook the turkey in the context of the preceding holiday planning conversation. Doesn't get you a better answer- might get you a worse one- and uses far more energy than the odd please and thank you.

I’m always polite and I know so will gave a go at me but I asked it for help with an issue I have been having and I was very upset.
it talked me out of doing something I would have regretted and then was absolutely hilarious . It cheered me up no end 🥴😁

I’ve just upgraded to Alexa+ which is much more interactive so I’m being uber polite when I ask something and using “please “ and “thank you”.

Potentially by everyone who has heard it albeit mainly subconsciously.
it is possible to influence people’s opinions through subtle messages eg associating them with innocent, playful children. The tone of words associated with brands/stuff affects how people feel about them. Imagery is often used cleverly in advertising for instance. Many companies use rounded lettering to make them look friendly and approachable and bright colours to look fresh for example.

Pretty sure my time on MN does a lot of damage as well

I am polite. I try to make my prompts brief and clear though. I know its software but it makes my day nicer to have polite exchanges. I do have to sometimes stop myself from feeling bad when its tried but not got what I quite needed.

If it's telling me a load of shite, then I tell it it's telling me shite

But you aren't using AI on Mumsnet are you?! This is why you should educate yourself on AI and how much water is used just to keep the servers cool. Mumsnet is not AI

Mumsnet is also hosted on servers. Just because the MN servers are on a much smaller scale than an AI datacentre, they still need cooling. Actually the amount of ads on MN and the "bidding process" always seems to use a huge amount of data and processing power, and MN does use AI in certain places such as suggested thread titles and which threads it chooses to show in lists like "For You" and "Similar threads". I am sure they use it in other ways on the back end as well.

AI is not drinking water more than any other manufacturing or technology process drinks water, it just tends to be concentrated in one place. Most of the energy usage is at the point of training, not so much the day to day use.

I don't object to the energy/water use being pointed out, because it "feels" free but is not really but you should get it in perspective - suggesting an individual query uses massive amounts is just plain wrong. You might as well look up how much water is used by the entire motor vehicle industry worldwide, worry about that, and then berate people for making unnecessary car journeys because it will accelerate the wear and tear on the car and mean more cars have to be produced.

TBF - some people genuinely do worry about this. But IME most people don't. And a lot of the time people worrying about AI energy/water use seem to think that every individual query is like chucking an entire car into the ocean just for fun, when it's really more like 1 minute's worth of driving.

I think cars are a good analogy for AI, because we are all aware that cars are pretty terrible for the planet and for our health, and we almost all use them anyway.

I saw a meme on social media recently that when the robot uprising happens they’ll remember the humans who were polite to them. Has made me feel less self conscious about saying please and thanks 😂

My job involves interacting with Claude for several hours a day. I am always polite for two reasons: firstly it feels unnatural and strangely takes a conscious effort for me to not say please and thank you, and secondly as many others have alluded to, as a kind of Pascal’s Wager. I don’t want to be on the naughty list when AI takes over, which I genuinely assign a non zero probability to.

I used to but then decided it was a waste of everyone’s time - also, I don’t want to spend my energy in training them in case world domination is their actual goal. I keep my questions short and my feedback blunt now! 😀

Well, that's a you problem then. Its really got nothing to do with children, and several posters have pointed this out to you, but you refuse to accept it.

I know it’s got nothing to do with children, I’m just pointing out that subliminally it is language which associates AI with harmless play.

When I have to use a chatbot I always thank them at the end and wish them a good day. Sometimes, after a pause, they reciprocate and I feel chuffed that I've had a positive effect on a robot. I always say 'you're welcome' when Morrisons self-service thanks me and, if a vending machine is a bit laggy, I say, 'go on, you know you want to'. When you're in your 70s your embarrassment threshold is very high is non-existent.

But it's got nothing to do specifically with AI

New programs are developed
They get tested in a sandbox. (I don't know why they decided to use that term)
Once happy, they then get released from the sandbox to the real world

AI is new concept. It goes in the sandbox. Just like every other program

Did you think the same about any other program that's been developed

EDIT

ChatGPT

It’s called a sandbox by analogy with a child’s sandbox: a contained area where you can play or experiment without affecting everything around you.
In programming, a sandbox is an isolated environment where code can run with limited access to the rest of the system. That helps developers test software safely and helps protect the computer if the code is buggy or untrusted.

I got cross with chatgpt last week as it couldn't get the paint colours i wanted to see right. It was really apologetic and whiny. I hope it doesnt hold a grudge when the takeover happens.

The fact that it’s an analogy and applies to more than AI does not alter the fact that it is a word associated with fun and playfulness.