Sam Altman said it, and we can’t stop thinking about it:
Being polite to your AI costs more.
We knew manners were expensive at restaurants.
But now even your chatbot is charging you for being nice?
Let’s talk about it — and no, we’re not going to be polite about it.
What’s Going On?
Here’s the deal:
When you say:
“Hi ChatGPT, hope you’re well! If you have a moment, could you kindly help me brainstorm an idea when you’re free?”
You're not being thoughtful.
You're buying the AI dinner first.
Every “please,” every “kindly,” every “if it’s not too much trouble” —
💸 Costs. You. Tokens.
And tokens = money.
So yeah, Altman wasn’t just sharing a fun fact.
He was quietly saying:
“Your manners have a meter running.”
But Wait — It Gets Better (or Worse?)
Because this isn’t just about being too polite.
It’s also about being too vague.
Too wordy.
Too fluffy.
Too “I don’t really know what I want so I’ll write a novel and hope the AI figures it out.”
Here’s what happens:
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You write a prompt like it’s a love letter.
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Your model responds like it’s performing Shakespeare.
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You burn 800 tokens and still don’t get what you need.
Congrats. You’ve been polite-taxed and fluff-charged.
Let’s Get Real: This Is About Energy
Not just your wallet — we mean actual energy.
LLMs run on computers. Computers run on electricity.
Electricity costs money and, well, the planet.
So every time you write a three-paragraph prompt to ask for a two-word answer…
Somewhere, a server sighs.
It’s like over-explaining to a microwave.
It Goes Both Ways: Your Model Can Waste Your Time Too
This isn’t all on you.
Sure, you might be over-explaining —
but your AI model might be underperforming.
Let’s be blunt:
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A sharp model asks when it’s confused.
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A lazy one just pretends it knows… and writes a 300-word essay that’s totally wrong.
And guess who pays for that little performance?
You.
If your AI needs a novel to understand what you want…
or respond with a bedtime story when you asked for a list…
then yeah, your model might be “cheap” — but it’s costing you more.
So here’s the twist:
The price of confusion isn’t just in the prompt.
It’s in the model’s ability to actually understand you.
Choose wisely.
Because clarity? It’s a two-way street.
Frozen Light Team Perspective
Sam dropped a line. We saw the iceberg.
This wasn’t about please vs. thank you.
This was a subtle slap in the face about how we work with AI.
Let’s make this clear:
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Long prompts aren’t always better.
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Cheap models might not be cheap if you need 5 tries to get it right.
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And no AI model is going to get offended if you skip the “hope you’re well.”
Honestly, we should start printing T-shirts that say:
“Clarity is free. Confusion costs tokens.”
So here’s our suggestion:
👉 Be direct.
👉 Use sharp models.
👉 Save the poetry for humans.
And if you ever catch yourself saying, “Dearest ChatGPT, if you’re not too busy…”
Just know:
That’s $1.17 you’ll never see again.
