In everyday human interaction, offering a simple "please" or "thank you" is a fundamental aspect of politeness, a social lubricant that costs nothing but fosters goodwill. We're taught from a young age that these small courtesies matter. However, this ingrained habit might have an unexpected, albeit small, financial implication when interacting with advanced AI chatbots like ChatGPT, particularly for those utilizing its underlying API for applications and services. While seemingly innocuous, these extra words contribute to the overall computational load and, consequently, the potential cost.The reason lies in how Large Language Models (LLMs) like the one powering ChatGPT process information. They don't understand words in the same way humans do; instead, they break down text into units called 'tokens'. A token can be a whole word, part of a word, a punctuation mark, or even a space. For instance, "thank you" might be broken down into two or more tokens depending on the specific model's tokenizer. When you send a prompt to ChatGPT, the model processes every single token in your input, and often, the pricing structure for using the API is based directly on the number of tokens processed – both in the input prompt and the generated output.https://x.com/sama/status/1912646035979239430Therefore, adding polite phrases like "please," "thank you," "could you," or other conversational niceties increases the total token count of your input. While the cost per individual token is typically fractions of a cent, the cumulative effect can become noticeable, especially for developers or businesses making thousands or millions of API calls. Each unnecessary token adds a tiny bit to the processing time and the final bill. Consider these points regarding token usage:Every word and punctuation mark contributes to the token count.Longer, more verbose prompts inherently use more tokens.Polite phrases, while socially valuable, are computationally just extra tokens.This doesn't mean users should abandon politeness altogether when chatting directly with interfaces like the ChatGPT website, where usage might be free or part of a flat subscription. The direct cost implication is primarily relevant for API users who pay per token. However, it highlights an interesting intersection of human social norms and the literal, computational nature of AI. The AI doesn't 'appreciate' the politeness in a human sense; it simply processes the additional data represented by those words. For developers optimizing for cost and efficiency, minimizing prompt length by removing conversational filler, including excessive politeness, becomes a practical consideration.Ultimately, the notion that saying "please" and "thank you" could have a tangible cost, however small, is a curious byproduct of how current AI models operate and are monetized. It serves as a reminder that interactions with AI, while increasingly conversational, are fundamentally based on data processing. As we integrate these tools more deeply into our workflows and applications, understanding the mechanics, including the concept of tokenization and its associated costs, becomes increasingly important for efficient and economical use. While being curt with an AI might feel unnatural, it can be a marginally more cost-effective approach in specific, high-volume scenarios.
