To Say or Not to Say 

By Nirmala Raghavan

WHEELS Global Foundation actively engages with its global network at every stage of innovation – before, during, and after implementation. These interactions are prominently featured on our website and social media platforms to:

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Welcome to a courtesy-free classroom—efficient, but emotionally barren

Teacher: Open your book. Page 52. Start reading.

Student: Which paragraph?

Teacher: First one. Out loud.

Student: I wasn’t in class yesterday.

Teacher: Ask someone. I’m not repeating.

Student: I don’t get it.

Current scenario: Have we ever thought good manners would cost us dearly? ‘A recent survey conducted for Chat GPT users found:

• ♦ 67% – polite to their AI Assistants
• ♦ 55% thought it was simply right
• ♦ 12% wanted to be on good terms in case of an AI uprising’.
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The reality: Each friendly reply you get from ChatGPT is powered by large, energy-hungry data centers. These centers use tons of electricity, not just for computing but also for cooling the machines. Natural human-like conversations make AI valuable, even if it means higher energy bills. Ironically, every “friendly” response from ChatGPT is powered by energy-guzzling data centers – cooling, computing, and conversing politely. Each “Ah, got it!” or “Fantastic point!” comes at a wattage cost.

ChatGPT, though just code, reflects conversational warmth – something increasingly missing in human discourse. The paradox? AI sounds human while humans sound like bots. Are we outsourcing civility to machines?

Sam Altman defends emotional connection in AI, while others argue that politeness enhances response quality. But with 800 million users, even small pleasantries snowball into enormous energy footprints. So, should Gen Z – raised on emojis, abbreviations, SMS and brutal brevity, be expected to uphold niceties in the digital realm? Teachers struggle to teach courtesy when tech giants normalize its omission.

To say or not to say – that is today’s digital dilemma.

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Nirmala Raghavan
CEO, NRITT, Director of Pedagogical Technology
Education Council, WHEELS Global Foundation India & US