The politeness of AI assistants is utilized to facilitate continual conversation with human users

The politeness of AI assistants plays a significant role in facilitating continual conversation with human users by enhancing user experience, improving response quality, and aligning with social norms that encourage sustained interaction.

• Enhancing User Experience: Polite interactions with AI, such as large language models (LLMs), contribute to a more positive user experience by reducing frustration and increasing satisfaction. When AI responds in a courteous manner, it mirrors human social norms, making conversations feel more natural and engaging, which encourages users to continue interacting 1.

• Improving Response Quality: The tone and phrasing of user prompts, including politeness, can influence the quality of AI responses. Research indicates that moderately polite prompts often result in clearer, more accurate, and articulate answers from models like GPT-3.5, GPT-4, and LLaMA. This improvement in response quality can motivate users to maintain ongoing dialogue, as they receive more useful and relevant information 23.

• Mirroring Social Norms: Many users instinctively apply politeness to AI interactions due to ingrained cultural and psychological habits. Studies show that a significant percentage of people in the UK (71-80%) and the US (67-80%) use "please" and "thank you" when engaging with AI platforms like ChatGPT. This behavior, rooted in social learning from childhood, fosters a conversational tone that feels familiar and reciprocal, even with machines, thus supporting continual engagement 43.

• Creating a Positive Atmosphere: Politeness in AI interactions helps set a standard for communication that extends beyond digital exchanges. By fostering a culture of respect and positivity, polite AI responses encourage users to remain in conversation, as the interaction feels more pleasant and less transactional 5.

• Cultural and Ethical Considerations: Polite AI design can also address cultural expectations and ethical concerns, which may further facilitate sustained interaction. For users interested in intercultural communication, the adaptation of AI politeness to different linguistic and cultural contexts can make conversations more relatable and inclusive, encouraging longer engagement 26.

In essence, the politeness of AI assistants is a deliberate design feature that aligns with human communication patterns, improves the quality of exchanges, and creates a welcoming conversational environment, all of which support continual conversation with users.

1. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/should-users-polite-llms-scott-fetter-hwcxc
2. https://mindsdb.com/blog/mind-your-manners-how-politeness-can-make-ai-smarter
3. https://www.nevillehobson.io/the-case-for-politeness-even-with-ai/
4. https://www.diplomacy.edu/blog/politeness-in-2025-why-are-we-so-kind-to-ai/
5. https://www.clairebouvier.com/blog/beingpolitetoAi
6. interests.intercultural_communication
7. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/robotics-and-ai/articles/10.3389/frobt.2023.1242127/full
8. https://www.yahoo.com/tech/survey-reveals-polite-ai-assistants-185247933.html
9. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2024/11/05/why-you-should-be-polite-to-chatgpt-and-other-ais/
10. https://www.willowtreeapps.com/guides/conversational-ai-politeness
11. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2543925124000147