OpenAI’s new memory feature in ChatGPT is quietly one of the most transformative updates in the AI space this year. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t sing or dance. But it fundamentally changes the relationship between user and tool.

Here are a few implications worth paying attention to.

1. Switching costs just went way up.

It used to be that you could bounce from one AI model to another depending on which gave you better results, faster responses, or cheaper plans. But with memory, the platform itself becomes more than just a tool—it becomes a partner that knows you. That embedded understanding, built over dozens or hundreds of interactions, becomes hard to walk away from. You’re not just training the model—you’re investing in it. That makes switching to a competitor a much higher-friction decision.

2. Prompt engineering won’t mean what it used to.

When everyone was working with a blank slate each time they started a new chat, prompt engineering mattered a lot. You needed to set context, tone, task, and output format every time. But with memory, those things can be established once and improved over time. Sharing “the perfect prompt” will lose value if that prompt behaves differently based on a user’s memory profile. In this new model, the best results won’t come from single prompts—they’ll come from relationships.

3. Human feedback suddenly matters more.

Saying “thank you, this worked perfectly” used to be good manners. Now it’s good practice. Positive reinforcement, clarifications, and corrections shape the assistant’s memory. That means every time you respond with “yes, this is the style I like” or “next time, prioritize X over Y,” you’re shaping future output in subtle but compounding ways. Engagement becomes training.

4. Memory is a force multiplier.

Used thoughtfully, memory becomes a compounding asset. You save time. You get better answers. You remove redundancy. You start to operate with the equivalent of a Chief of Staff who knows your tone, your priorities, your quirks—and doesn’t forget. The more you use it, the better it gets. That’s a game-changer for efficiency and decision-making.

5. Regulation will have to catch up.

If your assistant becomes your second brain, what happens when you want to leave? Today, there’s no standard for memory portability. You can’t export your assistant’s understanding of you and bring it somewhere else. That’s a big deal. It raises questions about consumer rights, platform power, and the future of AI “lock-in.” I expect we’ll see calls for memory portability just like we did for data portability under GDPR and CCPA.

This update doesn’t just change how AI works. It changes how we work with AI.

And for those of us who spend a lot of time thinking about how to get the most out of these tools, memory isn’t just a feature. It’s a shift in the foundation.

Let it change how you interact. Teach it what works. Nudge it when it doesn’t.

Because the real unlock here isn’t the AI remembering you—it’s you learning how to build a working relationship with your AI.