Making ChatGPT Memory More Useful
I’ve been playing with ChatGPT’s memory feature and have a couple of hacks that make it more useful.
The memory feature has a few limitations that make it less than ideal.
Problem 1:
Additions to memory happen automatically, but the process by which ChatGPT decides whether or not to add information to memory is not obvious. You can specify when you want ChatGPT to remember something, but this can be a bit tedious.
Helpful hack:
You can create a “memory” document (I used a .pdf but ChatGPT will accept other formats), which includes a list of things, you want ChatGPT to remember (special dates, names of relatives, interests, your job information, etc.). Then upload this document and tell ChatGPT that you would like it to remember the information in the document. ChatGPT will then commit the contents of the document to memory. Uploading a memory document is a simple and easy way to give ChatGPT a head-start on building a robust memory of who you are and what information you want it to remember about you.
Problem 2:
ChatGPT does not act automatically, nor does it know today’s day, date or time. This makes ChatGPT useless for reminding you of appointments or special dates, unless you specifically query it.
Helpful hack:
You can update your ChatGPT custom instructions (“How would you like ChatGPT to respond?”) section. These custom instructions are sent to ChatGPT with each prompt and prompt iteration, in order to maintain your desired response framework. This happens behind the scenes. Therefore, you can edit this section to include instructions like this:
“At the start of each new chat session, please use the Internet to determine the current day, date, and Eastern time zone time. Then check memory to see if there are any appointments, special dates, or events happening within the next 24 hours. If you find an event in your memory that will happen within the next 24 hours, please answer Gene’s initial prompt and then follow your answer with a reminder to Gene of the upcoming appointment, event or special date. Whenever you provide such a reminder, add an entry in memory of the reminder and include the date and Eastern time zone time of your reminder. Do not remind Gene about the same appointment or event within 24 hours unless that appointment or event is scheduled to happen within the next hour or the appointment or event repeats. Delete non-repeating past appointments found in memory. Events and special dates that repeat, like birthdays and anniversaries, should never be deleted.”
I found these instructions to be hit or miss, but more hit than miss. Hopefully ChatGPT’s memory function will evolve, and I will continue to tweak the instructions for better results. Below is a screenshot of a successful test. ChatGPT answered the first query of the day and then following up with a reminder that the next day was my (fake) birthday. This shows that ChatGPT automatically queried the date and searched for events in memory without my prompting it to do so.
I hope you have enjoyed this article and found it helpful. If you made it down to the bottom here, please like and follow. It helps get me motivated to do more articles like these. Thanks!
