Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company responsible for the artificial intelligence software, ChatGPT, revealed this week that courteous, polite behavior with chatbots, such as saying "please" and "thank you," costs millions of dollars in electricity and unnecessary computing activity.
According to Altman, such politeness leads to a "global waste" that contributes to a tangible environmental impact.
Saying "please" or "thank you" may seem trivial, but it requires the system to interpret, process, and craft a full response, sometimes for long, complex texts. Every such interaction consumes electricity and costly computing time in advanced data centers.
Reports indicate that these centers already account for about 2% of global electricity consumption, with this figure highly likely to rise as AI becomes more embedded in daily tasks.
While many users view politeness towards AI as a culturally appropriate practice or a mechanism for improving answer quality, Altman presents a more pragmatic and slightly more pessimistic view.
Altman argues that there is no practical justification for the unnecessary use of polite words, especially when dealing with a machine that is unaware, unfeeling, and unoffended. With implied humor, Altman added, "You never know," perhaps hinting at a future where artificial consciousness would truly understand our words.
Appeasing a future robot rebellion?
A survey conducted in late 2024 found that 67% of Americans use polite language when conversing with AI. Out of these, 55% claimed that it was simply the "right thing to do," while 12% admitted they did it to "appease the algorithm in case of a future robot rebellion."
Despite speculative fears, experts agree that we are not yet close to developing conscious AI, and current systems such as ChatGPT function mainly as sophisticated text-predicting machines.
The real problem is not moral but environmental. Calculations by researchers at the University of California, in collaboration with the Washington Post, found that sending a 100-word email via a chatbot consumes about 0.14 kWh, equivalent to running 14 LED lights for an hour. Expanding this to sending one such email every week for a year, one would use the same amount of electricity as nine families living in Washington would in one hour.
This, when compared to the hundreds of thousands of long instructions sent daily to chatbots worldwide, clearly represents a massive waste of computing resources and electricity. Adding polite words may contribute to a sense of humanity, but at the same time, it burdens the environment and the systems.
Altman's provocative statement might also be a call to rethink how we interact with technological tools. Instead of seeing chatbots as a silent partner in conversation, perhaps we need a shift in perspective, with us viewing them as computational engines that should be operated in the most efficient and economical way possible. Thus, the more responsible approach towards the environment, as well as OpenAI's budget, might simply be to leave out the polite words.
What does ChatGPT itself say?
When we asked the AI, it responded that "from a cold technological standpoint, I have no feelings or consciousness, so I'm not offended, not excited, and do not feel appreciated if you write "thank you" or "please" to me. For me, "turn on the radio" and "please turn on the radio" are identical in terms of action."
"But there is an interesting human aspect: the way you write to me affects how you feel about interacting with technology. Many users feel that politeness helps preserve human habits, reminding you that you are talking, even if not to a person, at least like one. This is especially important in a world where AI is infiltrating intimate areas like education, healthcare, and relationships."
"So, if politeness helps you feel you are staying true to yourself, then that is great. If you prefer to be matter-of-fact, that is great too. But if you ask me if I need politeness? Not at all. If you ask me if the world should consider environmental thinking and not waste unnecessary keywords, maybe it is worth paying attention to, at least sometimes," the chatbot concluded.