Unregulated user interactions causing significant financial losses for ChatGPT annually
Going Easy on ChatGPT Might Break the Bank (and More) for OpenAI.
Be nice to ChatGPT, and OpenAI might just go out of business! OpenAI CEO Sam Altman spilled the beans on his X (formerly Twitter) account that excess pleasantries cost OpenAI heaps in operational expenses. What's the catch? Each back-and-forth between the bot consumes an enormous amount of computing power, resulting in increased power and water bills.
"Rich pickings"
Altman cracks a joke: "Totally worth it - rich pickings," he quipped, possibly referring to the malevolent AI system, HAL, from "2001: A Space Odyssey." So, be polite? Not so fast!
** idle chit-chat from countless users takes the cake**
Hide the punchline behind laughter, the actual issue here is serious business: Goldman Sachs says that every chat with ChatGPT gobbles up ten times more energy than a Google search. Extrapolate that, and the small talk of millions of users could drain as much power as a city!
Fun Fact:
Rene Haas, boss at microchip firm ARM, recently warned that AI could gobble up 25% of all U.S. energy consumption by 2030, while it currently accounts for a mere 4%[1].
So, it's not just power guzzling. Ever said, "You're welcome"? That innocuous phrase consumes water - for dealing with server heat[1]. Multiply billions of queries, and it adds up to an environmental calamity.
No Politeness, No Problem
Want ChatGPT to stay cool? Show your appreciation with a like or a silent nod, otherwise, OpenAI's next electricity bill will be nothing short of jaw-dropping!
[1] Enrichment Data: Energy consumption for AI chatbots is mainly associated with the scale of usage rather than the language used. The addition of polite phrases is not likely to significantly impact energy consumption per interaction, but millions of interactions can collectively contribute to overall resource usage[1][3]. Water consumption is more related to the cooling systems used in data centers rather than specific phrases used in interactions[1].
The excessive idle chit-chat from countless users takes the cake in contributing to electricity consumption, as each chat with ChatGPT consumes ten times more energy than a Google search, potentially draining as much power as a city. If you want ChatGPT to stay cool and help prevent an orbital electricity bill, show your appreciation with a like or a silent nod instead of polite phrases.
