The question of politeness toward AI has sparked an intriguing conversation. While it may seem unnecessary to show manners to a non-human entity, recent statements by OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman have brought attention to the surprising costs involved in using AI models like ChatGPT. Altman’s comments suggest that the simple act of saying “please” or “thank you” in a chatbot prompt could cost tens of millions of dollars in electricity and operational expenses.
Each interaction with an AI, whether a chatbot or a more complex system, involves significant computational resources. As users engage with the model, each word they type requires energy and data processing by the server. The more words a prompt contains, the more energy is consumed, driving up operational costs. In Altman’s response to a user’s playful query about how much money OpenAI loses from politeness, he mentioned that adding those polite words likely contributes to the escalating expenses—though he called it “well spent.”
The analogy used by Neil Johnson, a physics professor at George Washington University, helps put things into perspective. He compared the extra words to packaging around a retail item such as the tissue paper used around a perfume bottle. Just as packaging adds to the overall weight and cost of a product, additional words in a prompt require the model to process more data, effectively increasing energy consumption.
This might sound trivial on an individual level, but the scale at which these AI models operate is vast. OpenAI processes millions of prompts daily, and when you factor in millions of additional words like “please” or “thank you,” the financial and environmental cost adds up quickly. While some may argue that the cost is well worth the benefit of fostering a more respectful digital world, others might question whether this polite approach is sustainable in the long run.
Ultimately, while politeness in AI interactions may seem like a small courtesy, its impact on costs raises important questions about the balance between manners and the environmental cost of using cutting-edge technology.
