A busy week for AI (but then, which one isn't, amirite?). Interviewed Prof. Sherry Turkle about her new book 'Artificial Intimacy' (out Sept 29), full North Star interview inside TBD+ soon. Launched the first ‘Power User Guide’ for ChatGPT in TBD+, and pushed the final batch of 2026 TNN dates live for non-members, including a first look at ‘The World In 2027’ with Tom Standage from The Economist (Dec 2). TBD+ members now get to bring a friend to TNN every month gratis.

So grab some good coffee and dive into the refreshing waters of C_NCENTRATE, where you'll find out why AI memory is a decision you'll need to make (or have made for you), and why there's still far too much Candy being crushed.

Prompts are one of the tedious parts of using AI. Before a chatbot can help, you have to remember what matters, explain the background and point it to the right files. OpenAI's new Computer History feature takes a different approach. With permission, the ChatGPT app records activity across selected websites and Mac applications, turning it into memories and a searchable timeline for ChatGPT and Codex. Nothing has to be explained twice, because the system already knows where you were.

OpenAI has been cautious with the first version, Computer History is off by default. No screenshots, recordings, private browsing, microphone or system audio, and users choose which apps contribute and can pause or delete items at will. Companies must enable it before employees can opt in, and it's initially limited to Pro, Business and Enterprise accounts outside the UK, EEA and Switzerland. Privacy will dominate the reaction, but the real question is how much background an assistant needs before it's genuinely useful.

For businesses, choosing a chatbot was the easy decision. Deciding how much organisational memory it should accumulate will be harder. A record of someone's work could recover an abandoned idea or prevent a repeated mistake. It could also expose client information, private research and every untidy step behind a finished result. Once software can reconstruct how work happened, previously invisible activity becomes measurable, and judging people by those records could produce bad management just as easily as good.

Computer History is available in Britain right now. Organisations have a short window to decide what they think before employees start asking for it (or shadow using the feature). Similar features are likely to spread, since remembering someone's working context removes much of the effort of using an assistant. Policies written after adoption tend to reverse habits rather than shape them.