In a revelation that has captivated the tech community, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman disclosed that the simple act of users saying "please" and "thank you" when interacting with ChatGPT costs the company tens of millions of dollars each year in electricity expenses. This surprising insight sheds light on a hidden tension between human social norms and the operational demands of artificial intelligence (AI), prompting a deeper exploration of how politeness impacts OpenAI’s bottom line, the environment, and the future of human-AI interaction.
The Surprising Price Tag of Digital Manners
tens of millions of dollars well spent--you never know
— Sam Altman (@sama) April 16, 2025
When users engage with ChatGPT, every word they type—or that the AI generates in response—requires computational resources. Politeness, a natural extension of human courtesy, adds an unexpected financial burden. Altman has quantified this "courtesy cost," stating, "These polite interactions are costing us tens of millions of dollars," yet he also described the expense as "well spent" to maintain positive, user-friendly exchanges.
By the Numbers: The Scale of Politeness
- 70% of users consistently use polite language with AI systems, reflecting ingrained social habits.
- 12% admit to being courteous out of a playful or cautious fear of a future "robot uprising."
- Tens of millions of dollars are spent annually on processing these polite phrases, a figure confirmed by Altman.
- Polite prompts significantly increase token counts, driving up computational and energy costs compared to direct requests.
This widespread behavior, multiplied across ChatGPT’s estimated 800 million weekly active users, transforms a seemingly minor habit into a major operational expense.
Technical Implications of AI Politeness
Token Economics: The Building Blocks of Cost
AI models like ChatGPT process language by breaking text into tokens—individual units such as words or punctuation marks. Polite phrases naturally require more tokens, increasing the computational workload. Consider these examples:
- Direct Prompt: "Summarize this article" (~3 tokens)
- Polite Prompt: "Could you please help me summarize this article? Thank you!" (~12 tokens)
The polite version uses four times as many tokens, and when ChatGPT responds with courtesy (e.g., "You’re welcome"), the token count rises further. Across billions of interactions, this multiplier effect becomes substantial. In chat-based systems, the entire conversation history is often reprocessed with each exchange to maintain context, meaning a single "thank you" late in a dialogue amplifies costs by necessitating the reprocessing of all prior tokens.
Energy and Resource Consumption
The additional tokens translate directly into increased computational demand, which relies on energy-intensive hardware like GPUs and TPUs housed in data centers. Key impacts include:
- Electricity Usage: An average ChatGPT interaction consumes approximately 2.9 watt-hours. Polite phrases incrementally boost this figure, and with millions of daily interactions, the energy cost accumulates rapidly.
- Cooling Requirements: More computations generate more heat, requiring power-hungry cooling systems to keep servers operational.
- Water Usage: Cooling processes often depend on water, with estimates suggesting a simple polite response like "You are welcome" consumes 40-50 milliliters.
For OpenAI, these costs are largely absorbed as operational expenses, invisible to most users on free or fixed-price plans. However, premium users billed by token count may notice slight cost increases from their polite habits.
Environmental Footprint
Beyond finances, politeness contributes to a larger carbon footprint:
- Higher Energy Consumption: More tokens mean more electricity, often sourced from non-renewable energy.
- Increased Infrastructure Strain: Sustaining this load demands robust data centers, further taxing environmental resources.
As sustainability concerns grow, this hidden environmental cost adds urgency to addressing the efficiency of AI interactions.
The Value Proposition: Why Politeness Persists
Enhanced AI Performance
Despite its costs, politeness offers tangible benefits. Research and expert insights suggest courteous prompts improve response quality:
- Accuracy and Detail: Polite inputs often yield more refined, collaborative answers, as the AI mirrors the user’s tone.
- Context Retention: Well-structured, polite queries enhance the AI’s ability to maintain nuance in complex conversations.
- User Satisfaction: Positive interactions foster trust and engagement, critical for adoption.
This suggests users may unintentionally engage in "prompt engineering," guiding the AI toward better outputs through courtesy.
Cultural and Psychological Dimensions
Politeness reflects deep-seated human behaviors:
- Social Norms: A 2024 survey found 67% of Americans are polite to AI because it feels "right," extending manners to digital realms.
- Psychological Comfort: Courteous exchanges maintain civility and prevent the normalization of rudeness online.
- Boundary Setting: Politeness reinforces that AI is a tool, not a sentient being, despite its conversational prowess.
Altman’s "well spent" comment underscores OpenAI’s strategic choice to prioritize this human-like experience over immediate cost savings.
Balancing Act: Efficiency Meets Etiquette
User Strategies for Efficient Communication
To mitigate costs without sacrificing courtesy, users can adopt practical habits:
- Be Concise Yet Polite: "Please summarize this article" (5 tokens) retains courtesy while reducing tokens compared to longer phrases.
- Limit Redundancy: Avoid repeating polite closers like "thank you" in ongoing chats.
- Context-Adaptive Politeness: Use courtesy selectively, focusing on clarity for complex tasks.
Technological Solutions
OpenAI and the AI industry are exploring innovations to optimize polite interactions:
- Efficient Token Processing: Models could be trained to handle politeness with less computational overhead, recognizing "please" as optional without altering intent.
- Smart Caching: Frequently used polite phrases could be pre-processed or handled client-side to reduce server load.
- Cultural Customization: Tailoring politeness to regional norms could streamline processing for global users.
These advancements aim to preserve user experience while curbing resource demands.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Human-AI Interaction
The "courtesy cost" highlights a pivotal challenge as AI scales: balancing operational efficiency with the natural, engaging interactions users expect. With ChatGPT’s user base poised to grow beyond 800 million, the politeness tax could escalate to hundreds of millions annually if unchecked. This trajectory underscores the need for sustainable AI development.
Key Takeaways
- Financial Impact: Polite interactions cost OpenAI tens of millions yearly due to increased token processing and energy use.
- Benefits: Courtesy enhances response quality, user satisfaction, and cultural alignment, justifying some expense.
- Innovation Needed: Future AI must optimize politeness processing to reduce costs and environmental impact.
- Strategic Tension: OpenAI must weigh efficiency against experience as adoption expands.
Conclusion
The multimillion-dollar courtesy bill reveals a fascinating intersection of technology and humanity. While politeness strains OpenAI’s resources—driving up electricity costs and environmental impact—it also enriches interactions, making AI more accessible and effective. As Altman suggests, this cost may be "well spent" for now, but its long-term sustainability demands innovation. By refining AI models and encouraging mindful user habits, OpenAI can preserve the value of politeness without letting it become an operational burden. The future of human-AI relationships hinges on this delicate balance, ensuring courtesy remains a strength, not a costly quirk, in the digital age.
