OpenAI spends millions of dollars annually just to process polite phrases that users type into ChatGPT. Why does simple courtesy become an expensive pleasure for the company, and should we continue thanking artificial intelligence?
G. Ostrov
When you type "thank you" to ChatGPT after receiving an answer, you probably don't think about the fact that this simple courtesy costs OpenAI millions of dollars annually. According to recent studies, processing short thank-you messages and other forms of politeness constitutes a significant portion of the company's operational expenses.
The Price of Politeness in the Digital Age
According to internal OpenAI sources, approximately 25% of all messages sent to ChatGPT contain phrases such as "thank you," "please," "I appreciate it," and other expressions of politeness. Although these messages are short, their volume is so large that processing requires significant computational resources.
"We've calculated that the company spends about $15 million a year just processing thank-yous and polite phrases," notes an anonymous source from OpenAI's finance department. "This accounts for approximately 3% of the company's total computational resource costs."
Should We Stop Thanking AI?
Despite the significant costs, OpenAI specialists do not recommend users to stop exhibiting politeness. "Interacting with AI in the manner of human communication helps users feel more comfortable and facilitates more natural dialogue," comments a user experience specialist at the company.
Technological Solutions to the Problem
To reduce the costs of processing polite phrases, OpenAI is developing special optimization algorithms. One solution is creating a simplified processing path for typical polite expressions that requires significantly fewer computational resources.
"We're creating a special module that will recognize simple expressions of gratitude and generate standard responses without engaging the full power of the language model," explains the head of the optimization project at OpenAI.
Cultural Differences in Expressing Politeness
Interestingly, the costs of processing polite phrases differ from region to region. Users from Japan and South Korea, for example, spend on average 20% more tokens on polite formulations than users from Western countries, reflecting cultural peculiarities in expressing politeness.
At the same time, users from some European countries more often limit themselves to a brief "thanks," which requires minimal processing costs.
Conclusions
Although the cost of processing polite phrases indeed amounts to millions of dollars, these expenses are a necessary part of creating a natural user experience. OpenAI continues to seek a balance between cost optimization and maintaining the quality of interaction.
So perhaps it's worth continuing to say "thank you" to artificial intelligence – it's not only an indicator of good manners but also a contribution to the development of a more humane technological future.
Official OpenAI website: openai.com
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