Everything reminds me of Her. While ChatGPT is not as powerful as the artificial intelligence from Spike Jonze’s sci-fi romance movie, OpenAI’s experimental memory tool for its chatbot seems to suggest a future where bots are highly personalized and capable of more fluid, lifelike conversations.
OpenAI just rolled out a new feature for ChatGPT Plus subscribers called Memory, where the AI chatbot stores personal details that you share in conversations and refers to this information during future chats. Announced back in February, ChatGPT’s Memory feature was available only to a small group of users to test until late April.
While it’s expected to be available for OpenAI’s Enterprise and Team customers eventually, the feature is available first to Plus subscribers. Though, subscribers in Europe or Korea are not currently able to use ChatGPT’s Memory. It’s also not yet integrated with the GPT Store.
WIRED received early access to the feature from OpenAI, and I’ve spent some time trying it out to better understand this new functionality and to collect some advice you can use to get started. While a few specifics may change about this nascent feature, here’s what you can expect as you’re getting started with ChatGPT’s Memory.
How to Navigate ChatGPT’s Memory Feature
When ChatGPT’s Memory arrived on my paid account, I received a pop-up notification explaining the fresh tool and how it can be used for remembering certain details across conversations. It’s worth noting that Memory is enabled automatically. You can easily opt out if you’d prefer by opening Settings, then Personalization, and toggling the Memory option by moving the slider to the left.
Adding facts about yourself to ChatGPT’s Memory is simple: Just chat with the bot. As you use OpenAI’s software, ChatGPT gleans personal insights from the conversations, like your name and where you live, as well as more niche observations, like your favorite movies and least favorite foods. Each time some nuggets of information is added by the chatbot, you might see a Memory updated notification. Tap on that notification to check out what was included.