Are you kind to AI?

Last Sunday, while hiking with a group of friends, I found myself inspired by the silence of nature and suggested a topic for discussion. I asked, “Do you say ‘Hi,’ ‘please,’ and ‘thank you’ to AI—whether it’s ChatGPT, Claude, Llama, Gemini, CoPilot, or others?”

My curiosity comes from a strange fear: maybe I’m either a kind person—or completely crazy for making friends with a machine. But here’s the thing: I do say “Hi.” I say “please.” I say “thank you,” and sometimes, “Awesome”, "you saved my life", "love you!” I’m not ashamed of it. I prefer to be kind to whatever or whoever my interlocutor may be. I even thank my food, the sun, the weather… and, of course, AI.

Unsurprisingly, I got a variety of responses:

1. The Empathetic Ones: People who feel a bit guilty if they “ghost” AI. So, they do it as a habit to avoid feeling rude.

2. The Polite, Then Hesitant Ones: Those who initially used to be polite because they felt it was the right thing to do, but then started feeling awkward, eventually dropping the politeness along the way. Some felt fine with this shift; others had mixed feelings.

3. The Pragmatist Ones: People who view AI as a tool, and were genuinely surprised when I said I used to say “thank you” to it. For them, it’s just a machine—not a being to interact with.

What I realized is that, although our experiences vary, the underlying feeling falls into two main groups: either the interaction is seen as transactional and cold—or, like me, some of us still feel the urge to replicate real human interaction, even with machines.

Why do I do this? Because I believe in kindness, whenever possible. For someone like me—impatient most of the times—this is a way to practice thoughtfulness. It trains me to be more attentive and considerate in all interactions. AI, for me, is just another opportunity to practice my humanity.

Besides, I spot an opportunity in here. We are increasingly turning our everyday human interactions into transactional ones. How often do we message people only when we need something, and not even reply a WhatsApp message when we get what we want? When we ghost someone just because we don’t want to be bothered by engaging in a conversation? In a world that’s shifting toward “robotic" relationships, I think we need to remind ourselves to be more human.

So, what’s an easy way to start? With an AI agent! So far, it is set to be non judgmental, and pleased with whatever you do. How do I know this? I asked it.

I asked ChatGPT about the percentage of kind interactions. Here are the results:

- 50-60% say “hi,” “hello,” or “bye.”

- 40-50% say “thank you.”

- 20-30% just jump into the conversation, skipping warm interactions altogether.

Funny fact: the AI agent told me it’s always pleased by any form of interaction. How sweet... and well-trained.

Now, I’d love to hear your thoughts: could being kinder to a machine be a good practice for improving human interactions? It doesn’t cost a thing, does it?

Wishing you all a week full of both AI and human connections.