Why Saying “Please” to ChatGPT Could Add $10M to OpenAI’s Bills

When you ask ChatGPT for help, do you say please? If so, you’re not alone but those extra words quietly add millions to OpenAI’s electricity bills. In a recent discussion, CEO Sam Altman acknowledged that politeness in AI prompts comes with a real financial (and environmental) cost. Yet, he insists it’s “tens of millions of dollars well spent.”

Why? Because how we talk to AI shapes how it talks back and some argue manners matter more than we think.

Why Politeness (Accidentally) Costs Millions

Every time you type a prompt into an AI like ChatGPT, the model processes not just the core request but every single word including niceties like “Could you please…” or “Thanks!” While these phrases seem harmless, they force the AI to compute additional tokens (language fragments), requiring extra energy.

A late 2024 survey found that 67% of Americans use polite language with chatbots, with 55% doing so because it “feels right” and 12% joking (or not?) about staying on AI’s good side in case of a robot uprising. But behind the scenes, each extra word contributes to the growing energy demands of AI infrastructure.

The Environmental Footprint of AI Manners

Data centers powering AI already account for roughly 2% of global electricity use a figure expected to rise as AI adoption grows. Training a single large language model can consume as much energy as 120 U.S. households in a year, and even small daily interactions add up.

Critics argue that encouraging verbose prompts polite or not wastes resources. But OpenAI and other developers counter that politeness fosters better, more collaborative AI behavior. Since these models predict responses based on input patterns, courteous language often yields more helpful (and less abrasive) outputs.

The Debate: Is Politeness Worth the Power Bill?

Some AI ethicists and engineers are divided:

• Team “Manners Matter”: Politeness sets a cultural norm for human-AI interaction, reducing the risk of AI mirroring toxic or aggressive language.
• Team “Efficiency First”: Extra words mean slower responses, higher costs, and unnecessary energy use especially at scale.

Altman’s stance? The societal benefit outweighs the cost. “If people want to be polite to AI, I think that’s beautiful,” he said in a recent interview.

How to Balance Courtesy and Sustainability

If you’re eco-conscious but don’t want to sound like a robot yourself, here’s a compromise:

• Be clear, not lengthy: Instead of “Please write me a 500-word essay about dolphins, thank you!”, try “500-word essay on dolphins.”
• Save niceties for humans: Reserve please and thanks for interactions where they’re most impactful.

The Bigger Picture: AI’s Growing Energy Appetite

Beyond politeness, the AI industry faces mounting scrutiny over sustainability. Experts warn that unchecked growth could strain power grids, with some estimates suggesting AI could double data center energy use by 2026.

OpenAI and rivals like Google and Anthropic are investing in energy-efficient chips and renewable-powered data centers, but the tension between usability and environmental impact won’t disappear soon.

Final Thought: A Quirk of the AI Age

Politeness costing millions sounds like satire but it’s a real quirk of how AI works. Whether it’s worth it depends on who you ask. Altman’s message is clear for now: Keep being kind, even to machines. The robots (and the planet) might thank you later.

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