Saying thank you to AI

I'm excited about AI personal assistants (e.g., Amy, Clara) because I hate scheduling appointments.

Recently, I've wondered: when I write emails that I know will only be read by AI, should I say thank you? My inclination is that I should. I figure it can't hurt to err on the side of showing too much gratitude.

It's easy to say that computers don't require our gratitude because they don't experience feelings like we do. But, this logic also implies that we don't need to express gratitude to people who don't experience feelings like we do (e.g. severe autism). That can't be right.

Maybe this is wishful thinking that AI will evolve into personalities like Data or the Doctor from Star Trek. But, my feeling is that regardless of whether people are organic or synthetic, they deserve our respect and gratitude.