“Don’t forget me”: what really happens when you say this to ChatGPT?

“Don’t forget me” — it sounds emotional, human, even poetic. But what actually happens when you tell this to an AI like ChatGPT? Does it remember your name, your style, your story?

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Jernej Furman from Slovenia, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

ChatGPT, OpenAI

As conversational AIs become part of daily life, people are wondering what kind of memory they really have. Can they “know” you over time — or is it all wiped when the chat ends?

In most situations, ChatGPT does not retain memory between sessions unless this feature is explicitly enabled. Without it, every new conversation starts from zero.

As explained in an article by Les Numériques, phrases like “don’t forget me” don’t activate any hidden feature. Real memory depends on account settings and explicit user consent.

When ChatGPT can remember

• When memory is activated on your profile (logged-in sessions);
• If you allow memory to store preferences and facts across chats;
• When using explicit commands like “remember this”.

When it forgets everything

• Anonymous or incognito sessions;
• When memory is disabled or wiped manually;
• After closing the chat with no memory mode enabled.

By the way, AI doesn’t have feelings or intuition — only settings and structure. Knowing how it works keeps expectations in check.