Politeness Formulas in Human–ai Dialogue: Gratitude, Greetings, and Apologies

This article examines the use of speech etiquette formulas in written communication between humans and AI chatbots. It explores the reasons why users tend to employ polite forms of address when interacting with artificial intelligence, focusing on such factors as linguistic automatism, the anthropomorphization of machines, concern for one’s social image, and instrumental expectations of AI. Based on behavioral data collected in 2025–2026, the study provides a comparative analysis of Russian- and English-speaking users. The findings demonstrate that users’ self-assessments of their own politeness do not always correspond to their actual communicative practices. The study also reveals that age-related patterns in the use of polite language, as well as the ways in which politeness is expressed, vary across the two linguocultures. In addition, the article proposes a methodology for the quantitative identification and analysis of politeness formulas in datasets of user–AI conversations in Russian and English.