Saying "please" and "thank you" to ChatGPT might sound like harmless manners—but it's draining millions from OpenAI's pockets. On April 16, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded to a question on X, where a user asked about the cost of politeness toward AI.
Altman replied that these small additions were "tens of millions of dollars well spent," hinting at a surprising financial ripple effect tied to human-AI interactions.
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Tiny Phrases, Massive Impact
OpenAI's ChatGPT, like other generative AI tools, runs on large language models that require intense computing power. These systems operate within high-performance data centers equipped with thousands of graphics processing units.
Each polite phrase added to a prompt—like "please" or "thank you"—extends the token count, increasing the energy needed for processing.
According to Epoch AI, a single ChatGPT reply consumes around 0.3 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity. That's roughly ten times more than a basic Google search. With around a billion prompts processed daily, these additional tokens stack up fast—boosting energy usage and operating costs.
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Data Centers Are Feeling the Heat
The environmental footprint of AI is growing alongside its popularity. According to Scientific America, data centers currently use approximately 1.5% of global electricity. That number is expected to double by 2030 as AI use scales up worldwide.
In addition to electricity demands, cooling these centers requires massive amounts of water. The Washington Post reported that generating a short 100-word email can burn up to 0.14 kWh—the equivalent of keeping 14 LED bulbs lit for an hour.
Multiply that by billions of interactions, and even small phrases contribute meaningfully to the load.
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Politeness Is a Trend—And A Choice
Why are people so polite to machines? According to TechRadar, which cited a report by Future, 67% of Americans regularly say "please" and "thank you" when speaking to chatbots. Of those, 55% believe it’s the ethical thing to do. Another 12% admitted they do it to avoid offending AI—just in case machines become self-aware.
Manners May Shape Machine Responses
Polite language doesn't only affect costs—it may influence the quality of AI replies. In January, Kurtis Beavers, design director for Microsoft Copilot, told Microsoft WorkLab that respectful phrasing tends to prompt more thoughtful, collaborative responses from AI systems. "When it clocks politeness, it's more likely to be polite back."
When users approach AI with respectful language, they're more likely to slow down, clarify their intent, and get better outcomes. It's a communication habit that benefits both the human and the machine.
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