ChatGPT AI now has a memory - for subscribers at least - but the more paranoid can turn it off

OpenAI introduced the 'memory' feature for its ChatGPT AI back in February 2024, but now that functionality is available to all users - well, paying subscribers, anyway.

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To recap, what this feature does is to give ChatGPT the ability to remember elements of your previous chats with the AI.

It can then refer back to those memories to make things easier or more convenient in future queries, while making chats with the AI seem a more human-like experience.

Whether you want this, or not, is of course a different question - not everyone will, and might have privacy worries about ChatGPT saving notes on whatever they say. However, the feature can be turned off if you wish, or you can instruct the AI to forget specific things (and examine what it has retained in its memories, too).

Whereas before, the memory feature was only available to a small number of ChatGPT users - some paying, some free users - it now belongs to the domain of paid subscribers only, as mentioned.

However, it is now fully rolled out and accessible to all ChatGPT Plus users, save for those in Europe and Korea who won't get this ability quite yet. It's a fair guess the omission of Europe is something to do with those much talked about more stringent data regulations.

In an update on the memory feature, OpenAI tells us:

"Based on feedback from our earlier test, ChatGPT now lets you know when memories are updated. We've also made it easier to access all memories when updates occur - hover over 'Memory updated,' then click 'Manage memories' to review everything ChatGPT has picked up from your conversations and forget any unwanted memories. You can still access memories at any time in settings."