Although it may seem trivial, experts believe that politeness plays an important role in shaping interactions with AI. Microsoft design manager Kurtis Beavers stated that using respectful language helps AI provide more polite and collaborative feedback. However, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently revealed that polite words like “please” and “thank you” to the ChatGPT AI cost the company millions of dollars. So, what should you know about it?
For your information, the revelation was made while responding to a question from a user on X who asked how much money was lost due to this politeness, and Altman replied that it was worth “tens of millions of dollars well spent. Additionally, Generative AI models like ChatGPT use complex predictive algorithms and require a lot of data and electricity to function. A survey in late 2024 found that 67% of AI users in the US were polite to chatbots, with 55% saying it was because “it was the right thing to do”, and 12% doing it to “please the algorithm” in case of a future AI uprising.
While the idea of rebelling against AI is humorous, the environmental impacts of AI use are very real. A study by the University of California and The Washington Post showed that producing a 100-word email using AI requires 0.14 kilowatt-hours of electricity—enough to power 14 LED lights for an hour. If someone sent one AI email a week for a year, that would be equivalent to 7.5 kWh—the same as the energy use of nine homes in Washington, DC, for one hour.
Moreover, with a very large number of daily queries, the overall energy consumption of AI systems is very high. The data centres that power these chatbots currently account for around 2% of the world's total energy consumption, and this figure is expected to increase rapidly as AI becomes more integrated into everyday life.
What are your thoughts on this news? Comment below, and stay tuned for more news like this at TechNave.
COMMENTS