Teach your kids to say please to Alexa, or we're all screwed

This is how I talk to Alexa, "Turn off the lights. Play Tom Petty on Spotify. Hey, idiot, that's not what I asked for!"

It's a problem.

Not for me. I grew up in a household that taught me good manners. But for today's kids? We may be facing a future full of Beavis and Buttheads. Even with my upbringing, if we had an Alexa growing up I might have turned out to be a rude little shit.

Let's face it. We're rude when it comes to how we talk to our virtual assistants, and sometimes, we're down right mean.

Just try asking Alexa to play MGMT on Spotify.

After the fifth time of hearing, "Playing songs by MGT from Spotify," you might yell back, "God damn it, Alexa, you're fucking worthless!"

Most of us would never say that to another person, particularly after being so brazenly demanding. But we have no problem saying these things to our virtual assistants. Even my dear sweet mother has called Siri a bitch in a moment of frustration.

As a kid, and without guidance, that line between AI and actual people might get blurry. After all, they sound like people and answer questions like people.

Just imagine you're four, six, or ten.

Every day you wake up and say, "Alexa… turn the lights on"

You do your homework and ask, "Alexa, what's 96 times 288?"

You demand, "Alexa, play Love Yourself by Justin Bieber."

On and on. No please, no thank you.

If your parents don't reinforce good manners, this will probably bleed over to the classroom, to the playground, to the coffee shop.

"Mrs. Crabtree get me some graham crackers."

"Jennifer give me the soccer ball."

"Make me a venti mint mocha with extra syrup."

The leap isn't hard to make.

Maybe the teachers will become shepherds of social graces, but will that be enough to make it a habit outside the classroom? I doubt it.

There's another problem here too, entitlement.

A friend of mine had to ground her son for asking Siri to do his math homework. Smart kid, he's destined for entrepreneurship. However, unlike the kid he would have cheated off of if he were in class, I doubt he feels a debt of gratitude to Siri for the help.

With every answer on demand, maybe he wouldn't be thankful to that kid either. Maybe he'd just feel entitled to the answers.

At this point, you might be thinking, "This guy is nuts," or "As a parent the answer is simple, it's called good parenting." With how distracted we all are with our phones, these nuances might slip past even the best of parents.

It's just not something most people think about. 

Texting, IMs, Facebook, and digital communication have already had the unforeseen consequences of crippling the soft-skills of the Millennial generation.

When management consultant group TalentQ asked hundreds of hiring managers what skills current potential hires lacked, 80% said they couldn’t find enough candidates with strong soft skills.

The majority millennials' parents failed to see just how damaging ignoring face-to-face conversations and interacting with broken language over messaging apps would have on their children's real-world communication skills.

They didn't think about the potential consequences, but the consequences are undeniable today.

Virtual assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Home are just the next wave of technology that alters the way we communicate, and perhaps not for the better.

But it's not too late. We can prevent future generations from sinking to a new low if we just ask our kids to say please and thank you to Alexa (or Siri, or Google, or Cortana).