ChatGPT's New Memory Feature Personalizes Web Searches

OpenAI Enhances ChatGPT's Memory Capabilities

OpenAI is implementing another upgrade to ChatGPT’s memory functionality.

The company announced “Memory with Search” through a changelog and support documentation on its website Thursday. This new feature allows ChatGPT to utilize stored memories – details gleaned from previous interactions, like dietary preferences – when conducting web searches.

How Memory with Search Works

This update follows a recent improvement to ChatGPT’s existing memory tool, which now has the capacity to reference a user’s complete conversation history.

It appears to be a strategic move by OpenAI to distinguish ChatGPT from competing chatbots such as Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini, both of which also incorporate memory features.

According to OpenAI’s documentation, when Memory with Search is activated and a user submits a prompt requiring a web search, ChatGPT will reformulate the prompt into a search query.

This revised query will potentially incorporate relevant information from the user’s stored memories to improve its accuracy and relevance.

For instance, if ChatGPT knows a user is vegan and resides in San Francisco, a prompt like “what are some restaurants near me that I’d like” could be rewritten as “good vegan restaurants, San Francisco.”

Controlling the Feature

Users can disable Memory with Search by turning off Memory in the ChatGPT settings menu.

The rollout of this feature is not yet universal; some users on X (formerly Twitter) have reported observing Memory with Search as early as the beginning of the week.

This ongoing development demonstrates OpenAI’s commitment to refining ChatGPT’s ability to provide personalized and contextually aware responses.

The integration of user memories into the search process aims to deliver more tailored and helpful results.