Should we be polite to voice assistants and AIs?

## Summary
Mind your Ps and Qs … an Amazon Echo Dot. Photograph: Nathaniel Noir/Alamy View image in fullscreen Mind your Ps and Qs … an Amazon Echo Dot. Photograph: Nathaniel Noir/Alamy Should we be polite to voice assistants and AIs? Is it worth being polite to artificial assistants?

## Article Content
Mind your Ps and Qs … an Amazon Echo Dot.
Photograph: Nathaniel Noir/Alamy
View image in fullscreen
Mind your Ps and Qs … an Amazon Echo Dot.
Photograph: Nathaniel Noir/Alamy
Should we be polite to voice assistants and AIs?
The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts
This week’s replies:
has a call for restraint from an authority figure ever put a stop to war?
I always say please and thank you to my Alexa. Why is this? I am sure it doesn’t care. Is it worth being polite to artificial assistants?
Alison Williams,
Toronto
Post your answers (and new questions) below or send them to
nq@theguardian.com
. A selection will be published next Sunday.
Explore more on these topics
AI (artificial intelligence)
Notes and queries
Computing
features

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
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### Areas for Consideration
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### Implications
- Photograph: Nathaniel Noir/Alamy Should we be polite to voice assistants and AIs?
- A selection will be published next Sunday.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers mind, amazon, echo topics. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 144.