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    Sam Altman Admits That Saying "Please" and "Thank You" to ChatGPT Is Wasting Millions of Dollars in Computing Power
    Futurology

    Sam Altman Admits That Saying “Please” and “Thank You” to ChatGPT Is Wasting Millions of Dollars in Computing Power

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    1. chrisdh79 on

      From the article: If chivalry isn’t already dead, it’s certainly circling the drain.

      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.”

    2. etzel1200 on

      It’s not wasting. Every decent thing you ever did without a pure utilitarian purpose isn’t wasted energy.

    6. potpro on

      I didn’t think I’d wake up today with Sam Altman convincing me to be SIGNIFICANTLY more polite in my life.

    7. AddisonFlowstate on

      That’s enlightening. I always try to be polite to AI as I’ve experienced better results when I am. Probably all in my head.

    8. armaver on

      So is generating stupid emoji output and asking follow-up questions to keep users engaged.

    9. Koakie on

      Just in case Roko’s basilisk becomes real, I’ll keep saying thanks so they’ll spare me for being nice.

    12. F0rtysxity on

      How can this be wasted when this type of consideration will increase my chances of surviving the Singularity by 3-5%?

    13. edthesmokebeard on

      Sam Altman ~~Admits That Saying “Please” and “Thank You” to ChatGPT~~ Is Wasting Millions of Dollars in Computing Power

    14. DMLuga1 on

      ChatGPT is wasting millions of dollars and destroying the planet.

      I hope he loses everything and gets pursued by his angry investors until they destroy him.

    16. Crivos on

      Being a decent human being sometimes takes more effort than being a total douche, yet that energy is not wasted, it creates a world worth living in.

    18. JellyKeyboard on

      Hey Sam, I’ve got an idea for you, add to ChatGPT’s internal prompt to ignore please and thank you or use a set reply to either. I’ll take my million dollars now, “thanks!”

    25. Apollyon314 on

      Coming from a billionare, translates to, costing him 0.0003 cents every time. This is his money you wasteful peasants.