Menu Home News Hardware Gaming Mobile Finance Deals Reviews How To Wccftech AIMobile Saying ‘Thank You’ And Being Polite To ChatGPT Is Costing Tens Of Millions, But Sam Altman Says It’s Money Well Spent Ezza Ijaz • Apr 21, 2025 at 03:05am EDT Users are increasingly relying on digital assistants for basic queries and even for interacting with the tool and seeking companionship. Many of the users communicate in a way that is more human-like, making the conversation feel more natural by remaining mindful and respectful in the language used. While this remains true for most of the AI models, recently, a user wanted to inquire about the cost that OpenAI has to bear when people use polite language when engaging with the models. It looks like it is not just a waste of time but a waste of electricity as well. Being polite to AI models is more costly than you would think, or so suggests OpenAI's Sam Altman People often resort to natural, human-like conversations when engaging with ChatGPT to improve their responses and make the process look more seamless and conversational. While using courteous phrases might lead to better response quality or even more clarity on the prompts and appears to be a positive practice, courteous words like thank you and please can be costly for these AI models, as recently suggested by Sam Altman. A user took it to X to ask a casual question regarding using words like "please" and "thank you" when communicating with ChatGPT and if those polite expressions are wasteful. OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman decided to chime in with a playful response that got people thinking. He responded: Tens of millions of dollars well spent — you never know. While Altman maintained a lighthearted tone, his response did spark curiosity with many tech forums exploring courteous language when interacting with ChatGPT and even other AI tools and how that might be wasting energy and time even if the impact seems trivial on the surface when extended across millions of interactions, it can have a profound impact. While the numbers suggested might not be literal, every word that one tends to use in interactions with the tools tends to increase the token count as well as the energy use. The AI tools do not require polite language, as no emotions are felt, but the design director of Microsoft Copilot, Kurt Beavers, suggests that using polite language does set the tone for the AI responses. It would mirror the courtesy that is shown when giving out the responses and would help shape how meaningful the interaction would turn out to be. So, while using extra words that are polite might mean extra weight and more tokens per prompt, leading eventually to more energy spent in the response, if your focus is to shape the interaction to feel more natural and courteous, then it might not be as unnecessary as presented to be. Subscribe to get an everyday digest of the latest technology news in your inbox Follow us on Topics Sections Company Some posts on wccftech.com may contain affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com © 2025 WCCF TECH INC. 700 - 401 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada