Your Chatbot Has a Long Memory. That Isn’t Always a Good Thing.

Brian Del Rosario, a software engineer and part-time city-council member in a small town in Utah, uses AI chatbots for everything from meal planning to managing his schedule. In some of those conversations, he revealed he had a spouse and three children.Then, after he and his wife separated, Del Rosario had to mention it to the chatbot so it wouldn’t include his wife when planning a future trip. But once he did, the chatbot latched onto the divorce.When he asked for help managing his schedule, it suggested he might be stretching himself thin because of the divorce. When he vented about a frustrating day at work, it tied his stress back to the divorce.He says he told the chatbot, “I wasn’t trying to have you opine about my divorce at every chance.” The chatbot, says Del Rosario, “wouldn’t let go of it.”Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8Videos