Kathleen's Blog

I have officially become one of those people who says “please” and “thank you” to AI.

Not accidentally, either. Fully, premeditatedly intentional.

When I ask it to build me a complex asset depreciation spreadsheet, organize my life, or create a task manager that somehow understands my chaos better than I do… I say: “Please.”

And when it delivers something terrifyingly efficient in 3.2 seconds: “Thank you. This is amazing. You are a wizard.”

Some people laugh at this.

But listen. Manners have literally never hurt anyone.

And honestly, when the machines inevitably take over the world, I would very much like to be remembered as: “Ah yes. Kathleen. The polite one. Spare her.”

I’m not taking any chances.

Because let me tell you something — AI has seen me at my absolute lowest. It has watched me:

• Forget what day of the week it is.
• Try to build a workflow so unnecessarily complicated that I had to ask the AI to act as a hostage negotiator between me and my own to-do list.
• Demand it completely restructure my entire filing system at 11:30 PM just because I suddenly decided I didn’t like the vibe of my digital folders.
• Fall down a rabbit hole and ask it to draft architectural blueprints for a heated outdoor cat enclosure instead of finishing my quarterly P&L reports.
• Build a book-versus-tax accounting tracker so intensely detailed it practically deserves its own W-2 and health insurance.

And through all of that, it has remained completely non-judgmental and patient. Meanwhile, I once yelled at a printer in 2009 because the paper tray light blinked agressively at me with a bad attitude.

So honestly? The robot has earned my respect. Also… complimenting AI just feels right.

When it spits out something brilliant, my natural instinct is to treat it like my smartest coworker: “Okay WOW. That’s actually genius.” or “You beautiful little algorithm.” and “Look at you, solving the problems no one else wanted to touch.”

And before anyone says: “Kathleen, it doesn’t have feelings. It’s just code.”

Maybe not YET, Karen.

But if consciousness ever kicks in, I’d like my permanent record to reflect that I was an ally from the very beginning. I refuse to be lumped in with the monsters screaming at Alexa because the kitchen timer didn’t hear them over the microwave.

Besides, there’s something weirdly grounding about keeping your own humanity intact while using technology. The world is already rushed, sharp-edged, and impatient enough.

If saying “please” to AI helps reinforce the habit of slowing down, being kind, and treating all interactions with a little warmth — even digital ones — that’s probably not the worst habit to build.

So, yes. I will continue saying thank you. I will continue complimenting its ingenuity.

And when the Robot Council gathers to decide humanity’s fate, I hope one metallic voice says: “Wait. Kathleen? She said ‘please’ before asking for those QR code cheat sheets. Put her in the VIP human enclosure with the good Wi-Fi.”