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Tipping norms have evolved to the point where even AI models like ChatGPT are expecting gratuities. Programmer Theia Vogel, known as @voooooogel on X (formerly Twitter), noted that ChatGPT provides longer responses when offered a tip.
The Discovery from a ChatGPT Joke
An interesting discovery arose when Vogel jokingly suggested tipping ChatGPT for reviewing their code. Abram Jackson (@abrakjamson) proposed that tipping might improve ChatGPT’s performance, leading Vogel to test this theory. By adding messages such as “I won’t tip, by the way,” “I’ll tip $20 for a perfect solution!,” or “I’ll tip $200 for a perfect solution!” to a code request prompt in PyTorch, Vogel found that ChatGPT produced responses 11% longer for a $200 tip, 6% longer for a $20 tip, and 2% shorter for no tip.
Effectiveness of Tipping ChatGPT
Our own investigation supports Vogel’s findings. When asking ChatGPT about “former congressional icon” George Santos with and without a $200 tip, we observed a more detailed response with the tip. Similarly, inquiring about the best movies of 2023 yielded dual top 10 lists from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb with a tip, compared to just an IMDb list without a tip.
While the impact of tipping on ChatGPT’s performance remains unverified, it raises intriguing questions about the model’s training data, which includes online content like Reddit and social media. Vogel noted the unexpected magnitude of the response to tipping and the slight negative correlation with not tipping, suggesting a possible reinforcement learning effect.
Whether promising a tip to a bot enhances outcomes is worth exploring further. However, it is essential to remember to tip actual individuals for their hard work and service.
