Here’s why you need to start saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to Alexa

The AI explosion is fuelled not by a vast leap in technology, but in accessibility, writes Jared Shurin. We greet Alexa in the morning, chat with Siri while we exercise, and share a cubicle with ChatGPT. What does that mean for how we should approach our relationship with tech?

Should we ask Siri how her day was? Should we make small talk with ChatGPT? Should we say ‘please’ to Alexa? (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Daddy, why didn’t you say ‘please’?”

It took me a moment to understand why I was being chided by my four-year-old, especially on a topic as important as the “magic word”. As any parent can attest, transitioning one’s child to “breakfast, please” from “chompy chomp now” is a long-term campaign. In order to model the right behaviour, we have spent years being exceedingly polite around the home.

It turns out that my lapse in judgement was due to, of all things, Alexa. I had barked an order to our friendly corporate surveillance robot and was listening to the football scores while I dressed for the day. My annoyingly perceptive child had pounced on my mistake. “Daddy, you say please to me and to mummy, why don’t you say ‘please’ to Alexa?”