http://programmer.ie/tags/temporal-state/ Recent content in Temporal State on Programmer.ie: Modern AI programming Hugo en-us Tue, 22 Sep 2026 05:00:19 +0100 http://programmer.ie/books/memory/19-chapter/ Tue, 22 Sep 2026 05:00:19 +0100 http://programmer.ie/books/memory/19-chapter/ <p>The book began with a distinction that sounds simple and becomes increasingly demanding the longer we follow it:</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>Memory is when retained past experience changes what the system does now.</strong></p></blockquote> <p>A database is not memory.</p> <p>A vector index is not memory.</p> <p>A conversation transcript is not memory.</p> <p>Retrieval is not memory.</p> <p>All of those things may participate in a memory system, but none is sufficient by itself. A system begins to remember when something from its past survives, is found again, is interpreted in the right temporal and operational context, is judged appropriate to use, and changes present behaviour.</p>