The piece argues that as users interact with generative AI systems, habits of **politeness — saying “please,” “thank you,” or softening prompts — are increasingly seen as unnecessary or even wasteful in the context of machine communication. Since AI tools don’t have emotions or social needs, conventions from human language don’t meaningfully improve results. Users are encouraged to be direct and efficient with prompts, because monotonic courtesy doesn’t benefit the AI and may even dilute the quality of results by cluttering context space.
One key point made is that every extra word in a prompt demands additional compute and energy, however small the amount. At massive scale — with billions of interactions daily — those extra tokens add up to real computational cost and energy usage, which some commentators warn could contribute to higher cloud bills and greater environmental impact if politeness becomes a default convention.
Beyond cost, the article explores the behavioral and psychological implications of dropping politeness in digital interactions. When people routinely phrase instructions to AI bluntly, this may shape communication habits over time, potentially eroding empathy and bluntly prioritizing efficiency over nuanced, respectful interaction. This tension reflects broader debates in the field about whether human-AI interaction should mirror human social norms or embrace machine-centric efficiency.
Finally, the article suggests that while machines don’t need politeness, humans do — outside of AI contexts. Preserving civil, empathetic communication among people remains important even if machines don’t reciprocate. So the takeaway isn’t that politeness is inherently bad — rather, it’s that we need to be aware of how AI use is reshaping communication habits and ensure it doesn’t unintentionally influence how we treat one another.
