Very honestly? I think it's a bold, slightly dramatic take—but it’s not entirely wrong, either. Let’s break it down real quick, both practically and philosophically.
What Sam Altman really means (decoded):
When he says "saying thank you and please costs millions", he’s referring to:
- Energy consumption of AI models. Every word you type, and every word an AI responds with, triggers computations across massive data centers.
- Polite fluff = more words = more processing. So if everyone started having long, polite chit-chats with AI ("please, thank you, oh kind and gracious assistant..."), it literally adds to the cost of running these systems.
- At massive scale (billions of prompts a day), every word adds up. It’s kind of like if you asked your microwave to make your food but also asked it how its day was every time. Cute, but not efficient.
My honest take:
1. It’s technically true, but… a bit tone-deaf.
People use “please” and “thank you” not just out of habit—but because they treat AI like humans. That’s fascinating and kind of beautiful. Brushing that off as a cost feels... a little corporate and cold.2. It shows a deep contradiction.
These companies want you to treat AI like a helpful assistant, a buddy, a therapist, a co-pilot—then they get annoyed when you’re too human about it?3. It exposes a design issue.
If “politeness” costs millions, that means the system isn’t optimized for how people naturally talk. That’s not the user’s fault. That’s a problem in the architecture or business model.4. But yeah, energy use is a big deal.
AI is power-hungry. Models like GPT-4 use tons of electricity. It raises valid concerns about environmental impact, especially if we’re scaling AI into every corner of life.