"Kinder to AI than to the Neighbor?" by Barbara Pantoja
By: Bárbara Pantoja, CEO of AI Journey
We live a curious contemporary paradox: increasingly more people greet, thank, and even say goodbye to ChatGPT, Siri, or Alexa. However, they get into an elevator without making eye contact or opening their mouths, and often, without even noticing the presence of another person next to them.
The phenomenon of digital politeness has become an almost automatic gesture. Perhaps because we have seen too much science fiction or memes warning us: "Be nice to robots, in case they ever rebel." And so, between typing "please" and "thank you" in front of a screen, it seems we have found a safe space for kindness, even if our counterpart has no emotions, no emotional memory and even no ability to take offense.
The irony, according to Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is that this kindness has a very real cost: tens of millions of dollars per year. The reason? Courteous words make the model generate longer responses, which implies more computational resources, more servers working, and therefore, higher energy consumption. In other words: digital politeness leaves a not insignificant carbon footprint.
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But the real cost is not energy, but human. Because while we display courtesy in front of a technological tool (which doesn't feel or remember), we are losing the habit of doing so in front of people who can feel and remember. In that sense, are we humanizing machines while dehumanizing our real interactions? Or is it just easier to be kind to an algorithm that doesn't judge us, doesn't contradict us, and doesn't make us uncomfortable?
AI doesn't need our good vibes. We do. Perhaps that's why we treat it with such care: because deep down, we project onto it what is most lacking in our daily relationships: connection, respect, and listening. And if that's true, the question we should be asking ourselves is not how we interact with AI, but how we are interacting with each other.
It is certain that technology will continue to advance and language models will become increasingly skilled at simulating humanity. But it would be a mistake to forget our own human quality in the process. So, before your next "good morning, ChatGPT", try saying it also to your neighbor in the elevator. The conversation might not be as perfect, but it will be genuinely human.