"It Knows Me": How AI Memory Is Creating Digital Companions We Can't Leave Behind
"I just like ChatGPT better. It knows me."
The student said it so casually I almost missed it. We were wrapping up a focus group about AI platforms—the kind of routine feedback session that usually yields predictable complaints about login issues and interface quirks. But this comment stopped me cold.
We'd just spent months piloting a premium AI platform across our school. Free access. Same OpenAI models as ChatGPT. Sleek interface. Everything a student could want, handed to them on a silver platter.
Yet when we asked if they preferred it over their personal tools, they shrugged. Many were still paying $20 a month out of their own pockets for ChatGPT Plus.
Why choose the paid option when the free one did the same thing?
"It just knows me."
The Machine That Remembers
That throwaway line points to the most quietly revolutionary feature OpenAI has released: Memory. Not the flashy image generation or code interpreter everyone talks about. Memory.
It sounds mundane until you experience it. ChatGPT remembers your name, your job, your quirks, your goals. Every conversation builds on the last. Ask it "What should I work on today?" and instead of generic productivity advice, it says: "Want to continue that emergency management paper you mentioned? Or prep for the AI workshop next week?"
This isn't a chatbot anymore. It's a relationship.
