Manners maketh Man and Machine. Tact and appropriateness for artificial agents?

The basic thesis of this article is that successful interaction relies on our sense of appropriate behavior, it relies on the feeling of tact. In Sect. 1 tact is discussed drawing on Plessner and Gadamer and whether it is a uniquely human property or if it has a right place (if any) in human–machine interaction. In Sect. 2 Kant’s thoughts on politeness are discussed for which the notions of harmful and beneficial deception are crucial. Section 3 transfers the concept of polite beneficial deception to human–machine relations and discusses possible indirect duties regarding socio-active systems using Kant’s respective duties regarding lifeless objects and animals. How can tact and politeness be useful (even) regarding socioactive agents and how could it provide orientation for successful, appropriate human–machine interaction? A comparison of artificial systems with animals, things and art regarding their respective moral status concludes the article and calls for further work.