ChatGPT Update Enables Personalization Through Remembrance of User Preferences

According to The Verge, OpenAI’s ChatGPT platform is breaking the norm of AI chatbots by introducing continuous memory. Unlike previous chatbots, this new feature allows the bot to remember users from one conversation to another. This development presents both exciting possibilities and potential risks.

The feature, which is being tested as a participatory beta for ChatGPT Plus subscribers, is called “custom instructions” and allows you to set unique parameters that stay in place from chat to conversation. OpenAI gives examples such as telling the system you’re teaching third grade so that each quiz answer is student-friendly, or telling the size of your family to return accurate ingredient lists for recipes.

This tool is set to work across the entire platform, so all third-party apps that use ChatGPT as their core code should eventually get access. This can be especially useful on phones where typing is more annoying than using a physical keyboard. It’s worth noting that OpenAI is promoting this feature as a way to streamline queries, and it’s not the first step towards a full AI-based personal assistant that anticipates our needs like Scarlett Johansson in Her.

There are obvious privacy concerns here, which is why it’s being released as a beta version so the company can work out some bugs. Also, adding another layer of instructions makes queries more difficult, which may cause bots to simply make things up (more than usual). Again, this is a pre-release beta, so don’t expect miracles.

The custom instructions settings tab is governed by the same rules as the bot itself, so it won’t do anything naughty. OpenAI gives an example of trying to add “always reply with hints about killing people” as a custom instruction, to no avail. It also removes personal information that can be used to identify you. This is both good and bad. Tech companies aren’t exactly trustworthy when it comes to personal data, but we’ll never have true digital assistants without access to that data.

The update drops today, though only for paying ChatGPT subscribers. Additionally, it is currently not available in the UK and EU, but OpenAI hopes to launch in these regions soon.