When AI Meets Memento: The Science of Machine Memory

Author(s): MKWriteshere

Originally published on Towards AI.

For the first time, researchers measured exactly how much information LLMs remember vs. understand.

“I have to believe in a world outside my mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can’t remember them.” — Leonard Shelby, Memento

The article explores the fascinating developments in AI memory research, drawing parallels to the character Leonard Shelby from Memento, who struggles with memory retention. It details how AI language models face a similar challenge of balancing specific memorization and general understanding. Key findings indicate that AI can recall certain information while forgetting others, adhering to a limit of approximately 3.6 bits of information per parameter, which significantly impacts their performance and learning capacities. The research also addresses implications for privacy, suggesting that as dataset sizes increase, the risk of data memorization decreases, offering insights into ethical considerations in AI development.

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Published via Towards AI