OpenAI makes ‘Memory’ available to all ChatGPT Plus subscribers – how to use it
Success with using AI chatbots such as ChatGPT depends on including as much background information with every prompt as you can to ensure you get the intended results you want. However, this process can be time-consuming and repetitive, and that’s where ChatGPT’s Memory feature can help.
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On Monday, OpenAI announced that its Memory feature is now available to all ChatGPT Plus users, making it possible for the chatbot to remember any user-supplied insights or information that could prove useful when formulating subsequent answers.
Memory is now available to all ChatGPT Plus users. Using Memory is easy: just start a new chat and tell ChatGPT anything you’d like it to remember.
Memory can be turned on or off in settings and is not currently available in Europe or Korea. Team, Enterprise, and GPTs to come. pic.twitter.com/mlt9vyYeMK— OpenAI (@OpenAI) April 29, 2024
For example, in the demo video above, ChatGPT saves to its Memory that the user “lives with a golden retriever named Ellie and a Maine Coon cat named Teddy,” as well as other personal facts, including that the user is traveling to Canada in July for vacation, has a two-year-old daughter named Lina, and more.
ChatGPT can then use this information as context when generating a future answer related to that topic. For instance, this same user could ask the chatbot to explain the rainbow to their daughter and wouldn’t have to reinstate that the daughter is two years old or loves jellyfish because ChatGPT would already have that information saved.
As seen in the video, the user asks ChatGPT to “create a photo of my pets riding a surfboard, please,” and because the AI already knows what pets the user has, it’s able to generate the image with no further direction.
The feature was first tested earlier in the year, and OpenAI says it gathered some of those insights into this feature deployment. For example, now the AI lets users know when a shared statement was used to update memories, as seen in the demo.
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OpenAI also makes it easier to manage memories by simply hovering over the message that says “Memory updated,” where users can view the entirety of the Memory history and edit it to remove any memories they would rather not have saved.
Of course, for users who would rather keep their personal information as separate as possible, there is the ability to turn the Memory on or off in settings, as well as edit their memories there, too.
To turn the feature on, ChatGPT users have to click on their profile in the lower left-hand side of the screen, Settings, Personalization, and toggle Memory on or off. If you click “Manage,” you’ll be able to see all your saved memories and tweak them there.
Under the personalization tab, you will also see the option to turn the Custom Instructions feature on or off, which — like Memory — works to prevent users from having to type out the same information — in this case, instructions — repeatedly.
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The feature is currently available to all ChatGPT Plus users, included within the $20 per month subscription fee, with the exception of Europe or Korea. The company says that availability to Team, Enterprise, and GPTS is coming, but provided no details about a potential timeline.
