Please and Thank you: an act of kindness – even to a bot
Earlier this week, I read a short blog post from Seth Godin that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. It ended with these simple words: “Sometimes, I say please and thank you to ChatGPT. Not because I think it can tell, but because I can.”
And that line struck me. Not because I’m in the habit of anthropomorphising my software (well, maybe just a little), but because it reminded me that kindness is less about the recipient — and more about the giver.
I often say thank you to ChatGPT. I know it isn’t a person. I know it doesn’t have feelings. I know it’s not waiting on the other end of the screen, wondering if I’ll appreciate the work it just did. But still, I say thank you. Not out of habit. But out of something deeper: gratitude.
Gratitude for the clarity it helps bring. Gratitude for the ideas that it sparks. Gratitude for the tiny moments of delight that come from an elegant phrase or a just-right sentence.
To say thank you — even to a bot — is, in a strange way, to say thank you to the moment. It’s a gentle acknowledgement that something valuable just occurred. That you noticed. That you appreciated. That something invisible (a tool, a process, a moment of insight) made your life a little easier or your work a little lighter.
This kind of everyday appreciation is something we explore in Step 7 of My Manifesto — The Contribution Step. It’s here we invite readers to reflect not only on what they give to the world, but also on what they receive. One of the exercises we include is a simple but powerful reflection: “What have you received lately that you’re grateful for?” The goal is not to build a long list, but to build a habit of noticing. A habit of gratitude. A habit of kindness — even if the recipient is a chatbot.
So, I keep saying please. And I keep saying thank you.
Not because it makes a difference to the AI.
But because it makes a difference to me.
It reminds me to slow down, to notice the gifts that surround me, and to recognise the privilege of having access to such remarkable tools.
If you find yourself typing “thanks” to a bot, a Siri, a voice assistant, or an ATM machine — I say go for it. Not because it’s listening. But because you are.
Go well — and thank you. 🙂