OpenAI's Politeness Bias Increases Operational Costs
San Francisco, Monday, 21 April 2025.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that polite interactions with AI models, like saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, cost the company tens of millions in electricity expenses.
Cost Implications of Politeness
The financial impact of incorporating politeness in AI interactions is profound, as highlighted by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Following a humorous interaction on social media, Altman confirmed that the act of users adding pleasantries such as ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to ChatGPT can lead to operational expenses reaching tens of millions of dollars. This issue becomes a significant concern in the context of AI’s growing prevalence and the operational demands it places on computing resources [1][2].
Environmental and Energy Concerns
The energy consumption associated with AI processes such as generating text is substantial. A 100-word AI-generated email uses approximately 0.14 kilowatt-hours, which is equivalent to the energy needed to power 14 LED lights for an hour. This intensive energy consumption not only raises financial costs but also has significant environmental impacts. Data centers supporting AI models currently consume about 2% of the world’s energy, a figure projected to increase as AI becomes more integral in daily operations [2][3].
Cultural and Operational Response
The phenomenon highlights a cultural shift, as a survey from late 2024 indicated that 67% of U.S. respondents felt compelled to be polite to AI, with 55% considering it ‘the right thing to do.’ While some industry experts, like Microsoft’s Kurtis Beavers, advocate that polite language fosters refined responses from AI, the operational costs associated with this behavior remain a topic of debate [2][4].
Strategic Positioning and Future Outlook
Despite the perceived operational inefficiencies, Altman maintains that these costs are ‘well spent,’ suggesting a strategic emphasis on fostering human-like interactions with AI. This focus underlines OpenAI’s commitment to evolving AI interfaces that resemble natural human communication, even amid discussions about the environmental and financial costs of politeness bias [3][5].