That isn’t the cost of being polite, neither to humans nor to AI. We teach children to say “thank you”, “please”, not because it’s efficient, but because it instills empathy, respect, and emotional awareness. Technically, skipping polite phrases every day could speed up lines, shorten conversations, and even save time and money at scale. But we still say them. Why? Because human communication isn’t just about utility, it’s about connection. As AI becomes part of everyday interaction, how we speak (prompt) to it reflects our values. If we normalize blunt, transactional language for the sake of efficiency, we risk modeling a colder, less empathetic society. Courtesy isn’t a waste, it’s an investment in the kind of future we want, both with each other and with the intelligence we’re creating.