Sergey Brin’s remarks and the broader context tell us about interacting with AI for better results:
1. Brin’s "Threaten AI" Joke — Is There Any Truth?
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Sergey Brin joked that AI models respond better if you “threaten them with physical violence,” a tongue-in-cheek statement highlighting that sometimes more forceful, commanding prompts can yield sharper or more direct answers.
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This contrasts with the common polite usage — “please,” “thank you” — which is more a human social habit than a necessity when dealing with machines.
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Brin’s quip pokes fun at the fact that AI isn’t a human being; it has no feelings, so politeness doesn’t inherently improve results.
2. Why Might "Threatening" or Stronger Commands Work Better?
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AI models are trained on vast amounts of text, including both polite and demanding language.
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Sometimes, clearer, more direct, or urgent prompts may guide the AI to prioritize certain types of responses.
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A strong or urgent tone might cause the AI to “focus” on answering more precisely or fully, as it’s interpreting the prompt as a higher-priority task.
3. The Politeness Debate
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Some research shows that polite prompts can sometimes improve responses, maybe because of how models are trained on conversational data.
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However, studies like the 2024 “Should We Respect LLMs?” paper show results are mixed — politeness sometimes helps, sometimes makes no difference, or even slightly hampers performance.
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OpenAI’s Sam Altman mocked polite prompting as a “waste” of computing resources, implying users should be more straightforward.
4. The Shift in Prompt Engineering
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Early on, carefully crafting prompts was crucial to get good AI responses — a whole field of "prompt engineering" emerged.
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Now, many users simply ask AI to help generate or optimize prompts themselves.
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AI-powered prompt tuning tools and evolving models make manual prompt engineering less critical, leading some to declare it "dead" or obsolete.
5. Brin’s Comeback & AI’s Importance
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Brin’s return to Google, driven by his excitement about AI, shows how seriously tech leaders are taking the rapidly evolving field.
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Working on projects like Google’s Gemini models means deep involvement in making AI smarter, more responsive, and useful.
Takeaway: How to Get Better AI Results?
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Being clear and direct in your prompts is generally better than overly polite or vague phrasing.
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Experiment with tone and command strength — sometimes firm instructions can help.
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Don’t stress over politeness—AI doesn’t have feelings, but natural conversational phrasing can sometimes help with context.
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Use AI itself to help you craft better prompts.
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Keep an eye on research and new tools that optimize prompting.
