I think this is especially true as more apps depend on machine learning (or 'AI') to provide a useful experience. Opening a weather app and seeing an old home (and triggering the memory) is one thing but there is absolutely nothing malicious about an app that saves a preference so you don't have to search for it every time.
More insidious is with those more clever services because they seem to become weighted to your earlier choices and your present self has little influence over what the machine has decided to learn. So you have Spotify where the first few hundred songs and artists you listen to have pretty much defined your taste in music and due to the amount of data collected to identify who you are across the internet, you're unlikely to get a fresh start by creating a new account.
The fundamental problem with this kind of memory in tech is that it doesn't appreciate that people change. It won't forget, it won't let go and move on, it won't adapt the same way a person will, it'll probably discount much of that change for being anomalous after some time. Or at least, that's what my fear is.
More insidious is with those more clever services because they seem to become weighted to your earlier choices and your present self has little influence over what the machine has decided to learn. So you have Spotify where the first few hundred songs and artists you listen to have pretty much defined your taste in music and due to the amount of data collected to identify who you are across the internet, you're unlikely to get a fresh start by creating a new account.
The fundamental problem with this kind of memory in tech is that it doesn't appreciate that people change. It won't forget, it won't let go and move on, it won't adapt the same way a person will, it'll probably discount much of that change for being anomalous after some time. Or at least, that's what my fear is.