With any relationship, you hope that when you share facts about yourself, the other person will consider that context during your future communication. As we venture into AI relationships, some of us are looking for the same consideration. In response, Google is now introducing a “memory” capability to Gemini.
Gemini Will Soon Recall Your Preferences
Following ChatGPT’s introduction of a memory feature earlier in 2024,Google announced on Xthat Gemini Advanced users will, starting today, be able to ask the AI assistant to recall their preferences. The idea is that these “memories” will help the virtual assistant more quickly tailor its responses to meet your needs.
For instance, if you use Gemini for cooking inspiration, and you hate mayonnaise, you can ask Gemini to store this preference so that it doesn’t keep sending you recipes for potato salad. Of course, this is just one example of how you can leverage Gemini’s memory—there are many ways that a piece of context can make Gemini a more effective assistant for you professionally and personally.
Who Has Access to Gemini’s New Memory Feature?
You need to have a subscription for a Google One AI Premium plan in order to take advantage of the new memory feature. This plan costs $20/month, but the company does offer a one-month free trial.
At the time of writing, you can only access this feature on a web browser—not via theGemini mobile app for iOSor Android.
A Distant Memory
You do have control over the information saved with Gemini, so if there’s something that you want the AI-powered assistant to “forget,” perhaps because your preference has changed, you can manually delete previous inputs. You can also toggle the feature off at any time, according toGoogle’s Supportpage. Maybe you prefer Gemini to come fresh to every conversation—with no preconceived notions.
As someone with a lacking human memory, I look forward to seeing how Gemini’s new feature might improve workflows. Like withChatGPT’s Memories feature, Gemini may end up having a cap on how much information it can save, which could render it less helpful in some use cases. Additionally, any cyber tool that saves passwords or preferences for added efficiency comes with the trade-off of privacy risks.
I’m always weary of companies like Google selling personal preference data for targeted advertising, but an even worse scenario would be for that information to get into the hands of a cybercriminal. So, while it’s tempting to rely on machine memory instead of my own, I’ll be advancing cautiously before unloading my deepest and darkest secrets.
