With the new Memory system becoming more powerful and integrated (especially after the recent April 2025 update), it’s becoming increasingly important to have granular control over how and where memory is used.
Problem:
Right now, memory in ChatGPT applies globally across all chats. While this allows for a more personalized experience, it creates a major limitation for users who interact with ChatGPT in multiple distinct roles or contexts — for example:
- Professional research (e.g., market analysis)
- Creative writing or ideation
- Personal journaling or reflection
- Therapy-like introspection
- Technical support or coding assistance
All of these interactions may require different tones, goals, and levels of personalization — and blending them into a single memory space often leads to:
- Cross-contamination of context
- Responses becoming “too general” or skewed toward one dominant interaction type
- A lack of boundaries between personal and professional identities
Right now the only workaround is creating multiple accounts or profiles (e.g., one for journaling, another for research), but that’s clearly not ideal.
Proposed Solution:
Introduce a concept of Memory Zones (aka “Workspaces”, “Context Bubbles”, or “Profiles”) that would allow:
Creation of isolated memory areas under the same account — e.g., Personal, Work, Creative, etc.
Per-chat memory selection: toggle which zone to use when starting a conversation (or mark as “no memory”).
Separate persona/style evolution per memory zone.
Optional: Smart detection of context switch with a prompt to change workspace (e.g., GPT detects you’re shifting into journaling tone).
A lightweight UX for switching between zones or pinning a memory mode.
Benefits:
- Avoids mixing unrelated tasks and tones
- Enables deeper personalization within each zone
- Eliminates the need for multiple OpenAI accounts
- Empowers power users with more modularity and privacy control
- Makes ChatGPT far more useful as a general-purpose assistant across roles
I’d love to hear from others who feel the same — especially if you’re using ChatGPT for a mix of personal and professional purposes. This feels like a natural next step after implementing Memory Search.
Hope this gains some traction!