The Impact of Polite Communication on AI Energy Consumption
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, revealed on platform X that processing polite phrases like "please" and "thank you" costs the company tens of millions of dollars. This was reported by Futurism.
While interacting politely with chatbots may seem trivial, some AI architects find it significant. For instance, Microsoft’s Curtis Beavers states that proper etiquette "helps generate more useful results".
A survey conducted at the end of 2024 showed that 67% of respondents in the USA reported being polite when engaging with chatbots. Among them, 55% stated they do it "because it’s the right thing to do," while 12% said it was to appease the algorithm in case of an AI uprising.
Despite many experts asserting that an AI revolution is far off, the politeness of users may already have tangible ecological impacts.
In a Washington Post investigation, conducted in collaboration with researchers from the University of California, the effects of generating a 100-word email were examined. They found that creating one email requires 0.14 kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough to power 14 LED bulbs for one hour. Generating one email a week throughout the year amounts to 7.5 kWh.
Data centers used to power these chatbots already consume about 2% of global energy, and this number is expected to rise.
