When a voice assistant answers a question, a surprising number of people in the UK respond the way they would to a helpful colleague. According to a survey by fonio.ai, seven in ten Brits are polite to AI, with many including a “please” or “thank you” in their spoken requests. The finding suggests that everyday courtesy is surviving the shift to machine conversation.
Manners That Travel From People to Machines
The survey found that 55% of callers thank their AI assistant at least once. A slightly smaller share, 52%, open with a greeting such as “hello,” “hi” or “good morning.” Those numbers point to a habit that carries over from human interaction: people appear to apply familiar conversational rules even when the other party is software.
Some go further. Around 12% of respondents said they apologize to their AI assistant, while 13% say goodbye before ending the conversation. Another 7% offer a warmer farewell, using phrases like “have a good day” or “take care.” A small but notable 2% admitted to asking the assistant how it is doing, treating the exchange as though it were a two-way conversation with a person.
Why the Politeness Persists
Daniel Keinrath, co-founder of fonio.ai, described the behavior as distinctly British. He noted that even when users know they are talking to an AI, they still apply the same manners they would use with another person. Whether it is a please, an apology or a wish for a good day, these small habits show how naturally voice technology has settled into daily life, he said. Keinrath added that AI may not need good manners, but that does not mean people will stop using them.
The findings come amid wider concerns about AI’s growing role in society. Previous discussion has touched on the environmental cost of courtesy: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has noted that saying “thank you” carries a significant electricity expense, reportedly running into tens of millions of dollars. The survey does not measure the environmental impact of polite phrasing, but it does show how widespread the habit has become.
A Separate Survey Points to the Same Habit
A February 2026 survey of more than 1,000 people by Future PLC, which owns TechRadar Pro, found a similar pattern. Around 70% of respondents said they are polite to AI when interacting with it. In that survey, 12% said they are polite in case of a robot uprising.
Together, the two surveys suggest that politeness toward AI is not a niche behavior. It appears across a broad share of users, from those who simply say thanks to those who apologize or ask how the assistant is feeling. The reasons may vary, but the pattern is consistent: people bring their manners with them, even when the recipient is a machine.
