OpenAI: The Hidden Cost of Politeness

The Cost of Politeness: OpenAI's Electricity Bill

A recent query on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, sparked a surprising revelation regarding OpenAI’s operational expenses.

A user questioned the financial impact of users habitually including “please” and “thank you” when interacting with OpenAI’s models.

Remarkably, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded, stating that these polite interactions have collectively cost the company “tens of millions of dollars well spent.” He playfully acknowledged the unpredictable nature of such expenditures.

Is Politeness to AI a Waste?

While Altman’s statement was likely not based on a rigorous accounting, it prompted Futurism to investigate whether extending courtesy to generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT is truly efficient.

The inquiry centered on whether such politeness represents a needless drain on electricity and processing time.

The Unexpected Impact of Language

However, it appears that being polite to AI is not merely a superfluous habit or an instance of attributing human characteristics to machines.

Kurt Beavers, a design director for Microsoft Copilot, explained that polite language actively influences the AI’s response.

He elaborated that when an AI model detects politeness in a prompt, it is more inclined to reciprocate with a similarly courteous reply.

The Role of Profanity

Interestingly, even the use of profanity can serve a purpose in interactions with AI.

While politeness encourages a positive response, other linguistic choices can also elicit specific behaviors from these advanced systems.

This highlights the complex relationship between human language and artificial intelligence.