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Is digital imaging technology changing how we remember?

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Boris Geiger
October 27, 2025

Those 20,000 photos on your cell phone – do they really help you remember? Researchers are investigating how autobiographical memory is changing in the digital age.

Student Hannah Lehmann has 20,000 photos on her phone. The young digital native has grown up in an age where memories are constantly recorded and shared. In this report, media psychologists explore how this affects "autobiographical memory”, which shapes identity, social bonds, and future decisions. One problem: while AI may help organize digital memories, it struggles to grasp emotions, so isn’t always the best judge of what makes a ‘good’ snapshot. Experts envision future AI tools that grow with us, helping us remember things more accurately in our later years.

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