[theqoo] “YOU DON’T NEED TO BE POLITE, DON’T TELL AI “THANK YOU””… SAM ALTMAN’S REQUEST

OpenAI CEO and tech billionaire Sam Altman recently admitted that people politely saying “please” and “thank you” to their AI chatbots is costing him bigtime.

When one poster on X-formerly-Twitter wondered aloud “how much money OpenAI has lost in electricity costs from people saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to their models,” Altman chimed in, saying it’s “tens of millions of dollars well spent.”

“You never know,” he added.

While it may seem pointless to treat an AI chatbot with respect, some AI architects say it’s an important move. Microsoft’s design manager Kurtis Beavers, for example, says proper etiquette “helps generate respectful, collaborative outputs.”

“Using polite language sets a tone for the response,” Beavers notes. The argument can certainly be made; what we consider “artificial intelligence” might more accurately be described as “prediction machines,” like your phone’s predictive text, but with more autonomy to spit out complete sentences in response to questions or instructions.

“When it clocks politeness, it’s more likely to be polite back,” a Microsoft WorkLab memo notes. “Generative AI also mirrors the levels of professionalism, clarity, and detail in the prompts you provide.”

A late 2024 survey found that 67 percent of US respondents reported being nice to their chatbots. Of those who practice courtesy, 55 percent of American AI users said they do it “because it’s the right thing to do,” while 12 percent did it to appease the algorithm in the case of an AI uprising.

CR: Futurism

1. No, why does it feel good to be nice to the machine, give it a compliment or something;;;ㅋㅋㅋ 

2. But to be honest, giving AI a ‘thumbs up’ does feel nice

3. It’s kind of funny how people are so overly grateful and honored, it’s just a tool, you know? I think I’ve only said thank you once or twice. Same goes for those who show off their GPT chats. It’s not even like the conversations are that meaningful, and if you ask for something without solid backing, it’s just ends up being something made up anywaysㅋ

4. I never say ‘thank you’ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Even so, most of the time I don’t realize it when I ask one question after another

5. Sam Ultman is a dummy

6. But if we’re using so much electricity because AI is so popular now, the utilization fee will go up right…

7. But when they find good information, I would just give them a thumbs up

8. I also never say ‘thank you’

9. You can be kind to machines too

10. I keep saying ‘thank you’ thoughㅜㅜ I can’t help it if I’m truly thankfulㅠ