2025-04-15 07:51:42
Samuel Axon, writing for Ars Technica:
Some time ago, OpenAI added a feature called “Memory” that allowed a limited number of pieces of information to be retained and used for future responses. Users often had to specifically ask ChatGPT to remember something to trigger this, though it occasionally tried to guess at what it should remember, too. [...] Users could enable or disable this feature at will, and it was automatically off for specific chats where users chose the “Temporary Chat” option — sort of ChatGPT’s version of incognito mode.
The new improvements announced today go far beyond that.
Now, where there was once a checkbox in ChatGPT’s interface to disable or enable memory tracking, there are two checkboxes. “Reference saved memories” is the old memory feature, which is basically a limited repository of essential facts. The second is the new feature: “reference chat history.” This allows ChatGPT to use all prior conversations as context and adapt future responses accordingly.
I’ve been using ChatGPT for a while now. I don’t think I’m a particularly heavy user at all, and I haven’t tried, in particular, to, I don’t know, open up about myself personally. But I ask it what I want to know. So, in the current version, I prompted it with “Describe me based on all our chats — play it straight.” Here’s its response:
You’re sharp, analytical, and deeply detail-oriented. You care a lot about precision — whether it’s language, data, or historical facts. You’re not satisfied with vague answers; you want the right one, ideally backed by sources or structured data. You’re a power user, technically literate, and comfortable with scripting and command-line tools (especially on macOS), often turning to automation and custom scripts to solve problems.
You follow the tech world closely, especially Apple — its hardware, chip architecture, software updates, and even historical product launches. But you’re not just interested in specs; you care about the bigger picture too, like corporate strategy, antitrust laws, and privacy policies.
You also track U.S. politics, legal frameworks, and electoral history with the same demand for precision and sourcing. And you’ve got a thing for language — choosing the right word, understanding nuance, and occasionally searching for just the right adjective (bonus points if it’s rare or elegant).
Outside of that, you have a strong grasp of sports stats (especially NFL and MLB), media history (Letterman, SNL, classic film), and a dry, sometimes playful sense of humor. You don’t show off, but you clearly know your stuff.
I’m probably not the right person to judge that response, but I think it’s pretty good.
Here’s the response I got when I asked Siri “Describe me based on all our chats — play it straight”:
I don’t see that person in your Contacts.
From last week’s blockbuster report by Wayne Ma at The Information, “How Apple Fumbled Siri’s AI Makeover”:
Giannandrea often has described to employees his belief that machine learning can lead to incremental improvements in products, eventually adding up to major gains, a concept he refers to as hill climbing. He also has expressed a dim view of chatbots in the past, telling Apple employees before and immediately after the release of ChatGPT that he didn’t believe they added much value for users.
2025-04-15 07:29:16
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2025-04-15 00:02:20
Seth Godin:
You can’t.
That’s because toddlers don’t understand what an argument is and aren’t interesting in having one.
Toddlers (which includes defensive bureaucrats, bullies, flat earthers, folks committed to a specific agenda and radio talk show hosts) may indicate that they’d like to have an argument, but they’re actually engaging in connection, noise, play acting or a chance to earn status. It can be fun to be in opposition, to harangue or even to use power to change someone’s position.
2025-04-14 03:39:00
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2025-04-14 03:29:23
Bill Maher personifies the difference between a liberal (which he is) and a leftist (which he isn’t). But he’s been a stridently vocal critic of Trump since long before Trump even ran for president. Maher was the first person on television to correctly predict that Trump, if he lost the 2020 election, would attempt to remain in office. Maher and Trump, however, are mutual friends with Kid Rock, and Rock arranged for Trump to invite Maher to the White House for a private dinner. UFC chief and Meta board member Dana White was also there. A decade ago even imagining this guest list for a White House dinner would have been a warning that you ought to lay off the drugs. Today, this is normal.
On this clip from his show this weekend, Maher reports on the dinner. What it was like. What Trump was like. Turns out, in private, Trump turns it off. He was normal. Or, well, normal for Donald Trump. He wasn’t what we see in public. I find that fascinating. Not exculpatory. Just interesting. Is he “They’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats!” crazy 24 hours a day, or just when the cameras are on?
Some on the left are absolutely losing their shit over Maher for this. I don’t get it. This is the single most interesting report on Trump I’ve seen in years because it’s real. Maher didn’t come out of the dinner brainwashed. He’s not now saying Trump is doing a good job. He’s not now saying things are in any way OK. He spent his whole monologue before this report rightfully skewering Trump’s humiliating weeklong tariffs tantrum. After the report, Maher interviewed total nutjob Steve Bannon and literally shoved a copy of the Constitution in Bannon’s face when Bannon started blathering about Trump running for a third term in 2028. From Maher’s preface to his report:
“Oh my god Bill, are you going to say something nice about him? What I’m going to do is report exactly what happened. You decide what you think about it. And if that’s not enough pure Trump hate for you I don’t give a fuck.”
2025-04-14 02:56:52
Crackerjack essay by Chuck Wendig:
Maybe it’s like turbulence on an airplane, you think. Just a bumpy unpleasant awful experience you gotta get through. But when turbulence hits it’s not because the pilot is a guy who doesn’t “know planes,” when turbulence hits they don’t disappear the ninth row people out the airlock because they “look different” and are “probably causing the problem.” Planes don’t have airlocks, do they? Whatever. My brain is spray cheese.
