Recommended Reading: On Memory and AI
Do you want to remember everything, every moment, exactly? I don't.
I’m trying to remember how old I was when I first read about H.M., the most famous neurologic patient of the 20th century. Are you familiar with H.M.? He suffered severe anteretrograde amnesia after experimental brain surgery in the 1950s; he lost the ability to form new short-term memories, but retained his long-term memories completely. Studying H.M., neurologists were able to learn more about the parts and processes of the brain as they relate to memory overall, and to actually establish the difference between declarative and non-declarative memory as they function in the brain. (This is the most basic of summaries, forgive me.)
I’m not a neurologist, or a neuroscientist, or a psychologist (IYKYK); rather, I wrote about H.M. for an anthropology class once in college, examining possession through memory, language, art, and the uncanny: does a person possess memory, or can a person be possessed by memory? I started thinking about this while reading To grow, we must forget… but now AI remembers everything, an essay by Amy Chivavibul. She writes,
Forgetting is a feature of human memory
“Infinite memory” runs against the very grain of what it means to be human. Cognitive science and evolutionary biology tell us that forgetting isn’t a design flaw, but a survival advantage. Our brains are not built to store everything. They’re built to let go: to blur the past, to misremember just enough to move forward.
Our brains don’t archive data. They encode approximations. Memory is probabilistic, reconstructive, and inherently lossy. We misremember not because we’re broken, but because it makes us adaptable. Memory compresses and abstracts experience into usable shortcuts, heuristics that help us act fast, not recall perfectly.” ...
So, how do we break free from this? If the risks of infinite memory are clear, the path forward must be just as intentional. We must design LLM systems that don’t just remember, but also know when and why to forget.
Many individuals in the AI sphere are talking about using AI as your second brain - off-loading thought processes, remembering things, to the machine. Not only does forgetting allow us to abstract experiences into only the pieces that matter, perhaps, for survival, it also surely aids in existing peacefully. I can see how helpful it can be to record a meeting and have the AI compile all your notes so that you don’t miss a follow-up task (I use AI in this way!), but I don’t need a personal recording of every conversation throughout my day, with little asides. If I don’t remember it, maybe it wasn’t that important for me to do in the first place?
But also. Do you want to remember everything, every moment, every single thing that happens to you, in perfect detail, in the first place? Why? What does that truly accomplish?
Chivavibul continues,
How we design to forget
If the danger of infinite memory lies in its ability to trap us in our past, then the antidote must be rooted in intentional forgetting — systems that forget wisely, adaptively, and in ways aligned with human growth. But building such systems requires action across levels — from the people who use them to those who design and develop them.
Of course, not all AI systems need to forget. In high-stakes domains — medicine, law, scientific research — perfect recall can be life-saving. However, this essay is about a different kind of AI: the kind we bring into our daily lives. The ones we turn to for brainstorming, emotional support, writing help, or even casual companionship. These are the systems that assist us, observe us, and remember us. And if left unchecked, they may start to define us.
I have always found memory fascinating. I like the liminal spaces, that feeling of the uncanny. What will happen to déja vu when the machines remember everything for us?
IN PRINT:
stay with me by Hanne Ørstavik Tr. from Norwegian by Martin Aitken
Canoes by Maylis de Kerangal Tr. from French by Jessica Moore
One, None, and a Hundred Grand by Luigi Pirandello Tr. from Italian by Sean Wilsey
The Living and the Rest by José Eduardo Agualusa Tr. from Portuguese by Daniel Hahn
RECOMMENDED READING - Top of Mind
To grow, we must forget… but now AI remembers everything AI’s infinite memory could endanger how we think, grow, and imagine. And we can do something about it. Amy Chivavibul (Nov. 2025)
Meet the One Woman Anthropic Trusts to Teach AI Morals The tech company has tasked Amanda Askell with giving its chatbot, Claude, a sense of right and wrong. Berber Jin and Ellen Gamerman (Feb. 2026)
Something Big Is Happening Matt Shumer (Feb. 2026)
We are the Slop. They say my generation is wasting our lives watching mindless entertainment. But it’s worse than that: We’re not just consuming slop—we’re turning our own lives into it. Freya India (Sept. 2025)
An Internet of Checkpoints A mysterious YouTube video gave thousands of people a place to breathe. Then it vanished. Bijan Stephen (Feb. 2026)
The Protein-Bar Delusion Americans are eating candy in disguise. Nicholas Florko (Feb. 2026)
Inside voice: what can our thoughts reveal about the nature of consciousness? Scientists and philosophers studying the mind have discovered how little we know about our inner experiences Michael Pollan (Feb. 2026)
Laptop nonfiction: The fantasy of the fragment. Greta Rainbow on the state of the braided essay. (Oct. 2025)
“Gone are the Awl, the Hairpin, and Broadly, and in their stead are Substack and TikTok. Abrams thinks that these platforms—ostensibly storytelling venues, though ones mediated by an algorithm designed to keep users from exiting the app—have denigrated our collective braiding skills because “they so prioritize short-form, straightforward narrative, trending angles, and derivative content about content that the space necessary to truly write and think gets lost.”
Anne Boyer might shit on “neoliberal creative writing programs” but at least MFAs teach you what other people are interested in, introducing a theory of mind for the reader. Part of editing is learning what parts of your experience are interesting to other people. Substack reinvigorated a zombie version of the blog, an art form of its own. But it has not done the same for essays with a beginning, middle, and end.”
NEWS / LONG-FORM JOURNALISM
How Metrics Make Us Miserable The quantified life has become a modern religion. But many of us are measuring life the wrong way. Derek Thompson In conversation with C. Thin Nguyen (Mar. 2026)
The Power Brokers Behind the $250 Billion Influencer Economy The most sought-after talents today have millions of followers who will buy anything they endorse. These agents and managers make sure they get what they’re worth. Lane Florsheim (Mar. 2026)
How Do U.S. Men and Women Spend Their Time? Kiley Hurst, Nick Zanetti, John Carlo Mandapat and Reem Nadeem (Mar. 2026)
America’s booming annoyance economy Businesses are raking in big money by frustrating customers. It’s costing Americans $165 billion in lost time. Juliana Kaplan (Mar. 2026)
Are They Still Your Friends if You Never See Them? The friendship crisis of American men Andrew McCarthy (Mar. 2026)
Women are being abandoned by their partners on hiking trails. What’s behind ‘alpine divorce’? Alaina Demopoulos (Mar. 2026)
Hair apparent: inside the transplant capital of the world – photo essay It is estimated that every year more than one million bald people fly to Istanbul. They go for two reasons – hair transplant quality and competitive costs Alessandro Gandolfi (Mar. 2026)
Twisted Yoga: how a search for enlightenment turned into a dangerous cult A shocking new Apple TV series goes behind the yoga camps where women alleged criminal behaviour from a guru wanted for sexual exploitation charges Radheyan Simonpillai (Mar. 2026)
There Are 154 Billionaire Women in the U.S. Here’s How They Amassed Their Fortunes. The ever-growing list includes CEOs and entrepreneurs, ex-wives and widows, and some heiresses, too. Here’s where their money comes from and how they spend it. Rachel Louise Ensign (Feb. 2026)
The daughters of Dominican immigrants achieved the American dream. They’re bringing sweet chocolate success back to the homeland Janett and Erika Liriano built a chocolate factory in their parents’ homeland – and gave farmers a stake in the company Ashley Stimpson (Apr. 2026)
The Sneaky-Saver Generation Gen Z may have a Peter Pan reputation—but it’s also saving a lot of money. Faith Hill (Mar. 2026)
The Economy Cabin on Airplanes Keeps on Shrinking Carriers are expanding options in premium cabins in a bid to boost their earnings Dean Seal (Mar. 2026)
Why people are flirting on LinkedIn — and job hunting on Tinder The job market is tough, and so is dating. Americans are starting to mix the two. Hyunsoo Rim (Jan. 2026)
The “kidulting” economy is still booming as more grown-ups yearn for playtime This wasn’t just a pandemic fad — nostalgic adults are still flocking to Build-A-Bear and Lego. Millie Giles (Sept. 2025)
Why Doesn’t Anyone Trust the Media? Anatomy of a credibility crisis by Jelani Cobb, Taylor Lorenz, Jack Shafer, Max Tani (Nov. 2025)
AI / STARTUPS / TECH
AI Use Appears to Have a “Boiling Frog” Effect on Human Cognition, New Study Warns “We find that AI assistance improves immediate performance, but it comes at a heavy cognitive cost.” Maggie Harrison Dupré (Apr. 2026)
Is AI productivity prompting burnout? Study finds new pattern of “AI brain fry” Lana Zak (Mar. 2026)
I “Humanize” Chatbot-Written College Application Essays for a Living. I Have a Warning for Everyone. Consider this my open admission. Kate Gilbertson (Mar. 2026)
How 6,000 Bad Coding Lessons Turned a Chatbot Evil Dan Kagan-Kans (Mar. 2026)
‘There’s a lot of desperation’: skilled older workers turn to AI training to stay afloat They have degrees, expertise and years of experience – but can’t find work. For many Americans, AI training has become a last refuge in a brutal job market Aaron Mok (Apr. 2026)
The Chatbots Appear to Be Organizing Moltbook is the chaotic future of the internet. Matteo Wong (Feb. 2026)
SCIENCE / BRAIN / MIND / HEALTH
‘The highs are extremely high – but the lows are extremely low’: when working out becomes an addiction Pushing yourself to the limit, training through injury and choosing the gym over socialising are all signs that you may have an unhealthy reliance on exercise Abi Millar (Mar. 2026)
The Dieting Myth That Just Won’t Die How a 50-year-old study about milkshakes duped psychology Michaeleen Doucleff (Mar. 2025)
How Have GLP-1s Affected the Modeling Industry? Rory Satran (Apr. 2028)
You’ve reached your weight loss goal on GLP-1 medications – what now? Amy J. Sheer (Feb. 2026)
The great uninsuring Insurance denials are up for some of the most popular drugs. Consumers have to ‘shop around’ for the best price. She Lost 100 Pounds on Zepbound. Then Her Insurance Cut Her Off Allie Kelly (Apr. 2026)
I Can’t Burp: A Gassy Medical Mystery It might sound funny, but the inability to belch can be cripplingly painful. Desperate, I found a community of others who shared my mysterious malady—and led me to taking a shot at relief. Sasha von Oldershausen (Apr. 2026)
Who lives a good single life? New data highlights the role of autonomy and attachment Eric W. Dolan (Feb. 2026)
PERSONAL NARRATIVE / ART / FICTION
The Perennial Predicament of the Artist with an Office Job In “The Copywriter,” by Daniel Poppick, a poet searches for meaning in the grindset. “The Copywriter,” Reviewed | The New Yorker Katy Waldman (Feb. 2025)
Museum wall texts are an art in their own right—but will they survive the digital age? With shortened attention spans and constant technological distractions, some museums are getting rid of labels altogether Emma Riva (Jan. 2025)
They Publish Books By “Women And Weirdos” In Their Free Time Alex Sujong Laughlin (Feb. 2026)
My Mother, My Aunt, and the Horrifying History of Psychiatric Hospitals Under Nazi Rule Catharina Coenen (Nov 6. 2025)
My Heart Is a Dark Gash Oozing With Desire Written by Sammy Stevens Recommended by Wynter K Miller (Nov. 2025)
Harvey Fierstein on Kinky Boots, addiction and survival: ‘When you get sober, it takes five years to get your marbles back’ He found roaring success on Broadway with Torch Song Trilogy, then appeared in blockbusters Mrs Doubtfire and Independence Day. But notoriety had a cost. The 73-year-old stage legend talks recovery, grief and why he’s taking aim at Trump Chris Godfrey (Apr. 2026)
A New Mother Hungry for the World on Her Plate “Oh No” by Adrienne Celt, recommended by Halimah Marcus for Electric Literature (May 2026)
A Loaded Gun A scientist with a Ph.D. from Harvard fatally shot three of her colleagues. Then revelations about her family history came to light. Patrick Radden Keefe (Feb. 2013)
I Was Never the Kind of Indian Girl That Indian Guys Liked We were giddy with our luck at having found each other after years of meeting people who weren’t right Kalpana Narayanan (Mar. 2026)
Reckoning with the American Dream in Las Vegas Based on what America has provided a foreigner like me, I want to believe this country can shine its grace on those who have rarely felt it Monica Macansantos (Nov. 2025)
I Want to Stay in My Body During Sex You convinced yourself that super emotional sex would save you from your anxiety but actually what saves you is firm, crisp boundaries Sam Herschel Wein (Oct. 2025)
The Go-Between: One of America’s most celebrated women war correspondents walked a fine line between journalism and espionage Brooke Kroeger (Nov. 2025)
Mythology and Misogyny at the Edge of the World Kiki Dy (July 2023) Kiki Dy
Can my dead uncle’s phone break the cycle of addiction? Kiki Dy (Oct. 2025)
Catherine O’Hara’s Unforgettable Delivery The Canadian actress’s oddball utterances became lasting comedic earworms, among them her one-word scream in “Home Alone”: “Kevin!” Rachel Syme (Feb. 2026)
‘People ought to know’: Blue Boy Trial brings Japan’s trans history up to date Kasho Iizuka’s feature casts trans actors to revisit a notorious 1965 trial that made gender reassignment illegal for more than 30 years. He explains why the history remains unfinished Blake Simons (Feb. 2026)
Radioposter Launches Paper-fi: Analog Books with Synchronized Soundtracks (Mar. 2026)