Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, revealed on social media X that processing polite requests costs the company tens of millions of dollars.

While communicating with chatbots may seem trivial, some experts find it significant. For instance, Microsoft’s Curtis Beavers states that proper etiquette contributes to generating more useful outcomes.

A survey conducted at the end of 2024 found that 67% of respondents in the U.S. reported being polite when interacting with chatbots. Of this group, 55% said they do it because it is the right thing to do, while 12% do it to prevent potential AI uprisings.

Although many experts insist that an AI revolution is far off, user politeness may already be creating tangible ecological impacts.

A Washington Post investigation found that generating a 100-word email requires 0.14 kilowatt-hours of energy, enough to power 14 LED bulbs for an hour. Writing one email weekly over a year amounts to 7.5 kWh.

Data centers that support these chatbots currently consume about 2% of the world’s energy, and this figure is expected to rise.