Are you polite to artificial intelligence? It costs dearly: Sam Altman, OpenAi CEO of the Company behind Chatgpt was surprisingly expressed this week when he said polite to cuffs, which includes the phrases “please” and “thank you”, is wasting tens of millions of dollars. Dollars who are well -established ” – a statement that raises questions about the boundaries between humanity and technological efficiency.
Saying “Please” or “Thanks” may sound like a negligible habit, but it requires the system to interpret, process and formulate a full response – sometimes on long and complex texts. Any such interaction requires the consumption of electricity and expensive calculation time in advanced data centers. These are reportedly consuming about 2 percent of global electricity consumption-a figure that can leap as the artificial intelligence will be embedded in everyday work.
While many users are politeness towards AI a kind of cultural practice or a mechanism for improving the quality of the answers, Altman offers pragmatic vision and a little more dark. He said there is no practical justification for unnecessary use of manufacture, certainly when it comes to a machine that is unaware of itself, does not feel and does not be offended. In implicit humor, he added: “You never know” – perhaps as a clue to the day when artificial consciousness will really understand our words.
A survey conducted at the end of 2024 found that 67 percent of Americans used polite language when talking to artificial intelligence. Of these, 55 percent claimed it was simply “the right thing to do”, in 12 percent India they did so to “appease the algorithm in the event of a future robot rebellion”. However, despite speculative fears, experts in the field agree that we are not yet close to the development of artificial intelligence, and existing systems – such as GPT – function mainly as sophisticated textual predictable machines.
The real problem, it seems, is not moral but environmental. California’s university calculations in collaboration with the Washington Post, revealed that sending a 100-word email by Chahtbot consumes about 0.14 kWh-like lighting 14 LED bulbs for an hour.
When comparing it to the hundreds of thousands of long guidelines that are sent daily for chatbots around the world, it is clear that this is a huge mass of calculation and electricity resources. Adding courtesy words may contribute to human sense, but in the same breath it is heavy on the environment and the systems.
Behind Altman’s provocative statements may also be a call for rethinking the way we communicate with technological tools. Instead of seeing a covert partner in the conversation, you may need a perception change – as someone who is in front of a calculation engine, which must be implemented in the most effective and cost -effective way. Thus, the more responsible move towards the Earth – and also towards the OpenAi budget – may be simple: omit the words of politeness.
And what does a Jeepyat himself say? When we asked the artificial intelligence, we got the following answer: “From the cold technological side, I have no feelings or consciousness – so I am not offended, not excited, and do not feel appreciated if you write me” thank you “or” please. ”
“But … there is an interesting human interest here: the way you write to me affects how you feel in front of technology. Many users feel that the courtesy helps preserve human habits – a kind of reminder you speak, even if not a person, at least as a human.
Jeepy Chat concluded: “So if polite helps you feel you are keeping who you are – it’s great.
And what about you? Write us in the comments whether you are polite to artificial intelligence.