The challenge of using electronic tools to supplement
human memory has been addressed by a BCS Thought Leadership debate
onassistive
memory technologies.
IT leaders at the debate heard that digital technology is being
used in developing new memory aids. The use of these devices is in
its early stages, but in future
memory aid functionality could be integrated into devices such
as mobile phones or watches that are linked using
Bluetooth technology.
With the move to online storage, and the rise of sites such as
Flickr and Facebook, different possibilities for storing increasing
amounts of data are emerging. The debate heard that the methods
people use to store their information could become highly
distributed in future.
As well as having personal data in lots of different places, it
is likely to be stored in many formats. This raises issues of
accessibility and long-term format compatibility.
The debate heard that assistive memory technologies will need to
include intelligent software that can act as a "companion" to the
user, understanding their physical situation and offering up
appropriate information from the user's data repositories.
The challenge of building such companions is a variant of the
challenge confronting artificial intelligence. How much adaptivity
and intelligence do such companion systems need before they become
useful? Ideally, they would be able to infer the desires and
beliefs of their users so as to offer up appropriate help, advice
and control at the right moment, in the right format.
There are many problems associated with using memory aid
devices. The debate heard that reliance on devices could make
people lazy, in the same way that the use of calculators means many
people can no longer do mental arithmetic.
The counter argument to this is that using an assistive memory
device for everyday information frees the mind to remember other
things. After all, because of calculators, we no longer need to
remember algorithms for long division or for finding the square
root of a number.
People's capacity to spell may undergo a similar transformation
in an age of automated spelling and grammar checking, the debate
heard.
Another big issue is privacy. Storing large amounts of personal
information online is a huge security risk. And, ethically, who has
the right to view your "memory" once it has been recorded?