3 ms·

I’m curious how this applies to systems like ChatGPT, which now have two kinds of memory: user-configurable memory (a list of facts or preferences) and an opaqu

I’m curious how this applies to systems like ChatGPT, which now have two kinds of memory: user-configurable memory (a list of facts or preferences) and an opaque chat history memory. If context is the core unit of interaction, it seems important to give users more control or at least visibility into both. I know context engineering is critical for agents, but I wonder if it's also useful for shaping personality and improving overall relatability? I'm curious if anyone else has thought about that.

simonw 1y ago
I really dislike the new ChatGPT memory feature (the one that pulls details out of a summarized version of all of your previous chats, as opposed to older memory feature that records short notes to itself) for exactly this reason: it makes it even harder for me to control the context when I'm using ChatGPT. If I'm debugging something with ChatGPT and I hit an error loop, my fix is to start a new conversation. Now I can't be sure ChatGPT won't include notes from that previous conversation's context that I was trying to get rid of! Thankfully you can turn the new memory thing off, but it's on by default. I wrote more about that here: https://simonwillison.net/2025/May/21/chatgpt-new-memory/ https://simonwillison.net/2025/May/21/chatgpt-new-memory/
- labrador 1y ago
  On the other hand, for my use case (I'm retired and enjoy chatting with it), having it remember items from past chats makes it feel much more personable. I actually prefer Claude, but it doesn't have memory, so I unsubscribed and subscribed to ChatGPT. That it remembers obscure but relevant details about our past chats feels almost magical. It's good that you can turn it off. I can see how it might cause problems when trying to do technical work. Edit: Note, the introduction of memory was a contributing factor to "the sychophant" that OpenAI had to rollback. When it could praise you while seeming to know you was encouraging addictive use. Edit2: Here's the previous Hacker News discussion on Simon's "I really don’t like ChatGPT’s new memory dossier" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44052246 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44052246

simonw 1y ago

I really dislike the new ChatGPT memory feature (the one that pulls details out of a summarized version of all of your previous chats, as opposed to older memory feature that records short notes to itself) for exactly this reason: it makes it even harder for me to control the context when I'm using ChatGPT. If I'm debugging something with ChatGPT and I hit an error loop, my fix is to start a new conversation. Now I can't be sure ChatGPT won't include notes from that previous conversation's context that I was trying to get rid of! Thankfully you can turn the new memory thing off, but it's on by default. I wrote more about that here: https://simonwillison.net/2025/May/21/chatgpt-new-memory/ https://simonwillison.net/2025/May/21/chatgpt-new-memory/

labrador 1y ago
On the other hand, for my use case (I'm retired and enjoy chatting with it), having it remember items from past chats makes it feel much more personable. I actually prefer Claude, but it doesn't have memory, so I unsubscribed and subscribed to ChatGPT. That it remembers obscure but relevant details about our past chats feels almost magical. It's good that you can turn it off. I can see how it might cause problems when trying to do technical work. Edit: Note, the introduction of memory was a contributing factor to "the sychophant" that OpenAI had to rollback. When it could praise you while seeming to know you was encouraging addictive use. Edit2: Here's the previous Hacker News discussion on Simon's "I really don’t like ChatGPT’s new memory dossier" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44052246 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44052246