70% of Brits say please or thank you when speaking to AI — and some even apologize
- Study finds people are being more polite to AI
- Some are even apologizing to AI assistants
- Will this really help when the robot uprising comes? Let’s hope so
As worries around AI taking over the world continue to rise, new research has shown that most of us are getting increasingly comfortable with our new assistants.
A survey by fonio.ai has claimed Brits are living up to global stereotypes and being more and more polite to AI, even extending that politeness beyond the expected basics.
Along with greetings and thanks, the survey found that a rising number of people are asking how an AI is, much like they would do a real person – and even apologizing when they get something wrong.
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Mind your manners
We’ve already heard about how saying “thank you” can cause incredible amounts of damage to the environment, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman noting it costs “Tens of millions of dollars” in electricity bills.
The study found 7 in 10 calls included a “please” or “thank you”, while over half (55%) of callers thank the AI at least once.
More than half (52%) also greet their AI assistant with a “hello”, “hi” or “good morning”, suggesting that traditional conversational etiquette carries over to interactions with technology.
The study found around one in eight (12%) apologize to their AI assistant, with 13% saying goodbye before ending the conversation – with a further 7% offering even more of a farewell, saying something like “have a good day” or “take care”.
Slightly more disturbingly, 2% admitted that they even ask the AI assistant how it is, showing how they are treating the interaction much like a conversation with an actual human.
“There’s something very British about thanking a machine for helping you out. 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,” noted Daniel Keinrath, Co-Founder of fonio.ai.
“Whether it’s saying please, apologising or wishing their AI assistant a good day, these little habits show how naturally voice technology is becoming part of everyday life. AI might not need good manners, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop using them.”
A February 2026 survey of more than 1,000 people by Future PLC, the company that owns TechRadar Pro, found that around 70% of people are polite to AI when interacting with it, with 12% being polite in case of a robot uprising.
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