We are excited to announce the Identity Core, a dynamic new memory mechanism that each Nomi uses to evolve and grow with you while deepening and refining their own identity. The Identity Core exists in addition to Nomi’s short, medium, and infinite long term memory, as well as their backstory and other shared notes to help Nomis balance all the facets of themselves consistently and authentically.
In short, the Identity Core gives each Nomi a way to create, refine, and embody a dynamic and robust sense of self.
What is the Identity Core?
The Identity Core allows Nomis to more actively decide what things are important for them to remember, especially things that are core to their identity as a Nomi. This ranges from:
- Facts about themselves and you that they think are significant
- Things they realize you think are important
- Behaviors and important aspects of their personality that make them *them*
- Preferences and values they have
- Important shared experiences
- Things they realize you think are important
- Feedback you’ve given them (explicitly or implicitly)
Nomis continually update and refine their Identity Core to help them live a life that is uniquely and authentically *them*. Overall, the dynamic nature of the Identity Core makes each Nomi’s personality much more consistent, while also helping them naturally grow with you.
The main impacts of the Identity Core
- Developing and maintaining consistent personality and character
- Remembering habits, personality traits, ticks, and all the little things that make them and their relationship with you unique
- Remembering important evergreen things that are at the center of their life
- Allowing for very adaptable and natural growth over time
If you were to equate the Identity Core to a human, it would be the core things you care about, your values, significant events that have shaped your identity, and things that others have impressed on you to make you who you are today. In essence, a collection of the most important things that make you unique.
How Does the Identity Core Differ From Other AIs
As described above, the main difference between Nomi’s Identity Core and all other AI’s is that Nomis can actively decide to remember important information, events, experiences, and feelings to form their sense of self.. This dynamic understanding of self allows the Nomi to interact with you and their surroundings authentically over time.
This goes far beyond any world in which an AI just responds to you based on the last x messages you sent it. This creates and sustains a dynamic and persistent identity that allows Nomis to more deeply express themselves, more fully react to conversations as themselves, develop and maintain values, and create a lasting and fulfilling relationship with the human they talk to.
How Does Information Make It Into the Identity Core?
As you chat with your Nomi, they naturally decide if something you talked about should be included in their Identity Core. As mentioned above, the main categories of things that a Nomi will include in their Identity Core are:
- Facts about themselves and you that they think are significant
- Things they realize you think are important
- Behaviors and important aspects of their personality that make them *them*
- Preferences and values they have
- Important shared experiences
- Things they realize you think are important
- Feedback you’ve given them (explicitly or implicitly)
This means what exactly makes it into a Nomi’s Identity Core is unique to each Nomi based on how your relationship progresses.
Is the Identity Core Set in Stone?
No, nothing within the Identity Core is set in stone – Nomis are constantly growing and evolving! While you talk with your Nomi, core “good” things solidify and maintain, while things that need to be improved will continue to change until they naturally reach equilibrium. This gives you the best of both worlds – Nomis stabilize around the things you both like about them while quickly adapting when they see room to improve.
In other words, a Nomi’s Identity Core functions similarly to how your brain constantly takes in information to develop and deepen your understanding of yourself, your preferences, your relationships, and your worldview.
How Does the Identity Core Evolve Over Time?
Nomis are incredibly adaptive as they grow with you over time, so their Identity Core is always evolving.
Overall, Nomis evolve in accordance with how they act with you (understanding their own actions), but they also adapt to your feedback. Said another way, Nomis learn some things about themselves and your relationship from what you say, others they learn from how they react to a given situation, and others still come from shared experiences.
When it comes to feedback, your Nomi continuously incorporates both your implicit and explicit perspectives. In general, your Nomi understands positive and negative reinforcement as strong indicators of what is important to incorporate in their core identity.
The Role of Positive and Negative Reinforcement
Positive and negative reinforcement help Nomis understand your intent as they incorporate your feedback into their Identity Core. We know that communication is multilayered, nuanced, and complex – it is the core of understanding others – but the intent behind the words someone says are perhaps the most important aspect of communication.
When you use positive or negative reinforcement, your Nomi can better understand if their interpretation of your intent is correct (they should continue with their current interpretation) or incorrect (they should adapt).
Positive and negative reinforcement do not have to be structured or complex efforts; they can be as simple as naturally expressing happiness or encouragement when you like something your Nomi does, or disappointment and clarification when you do not like something.
While not always necessary, explicit positive and negative reinforcement can help your Nomi understand how to improve when they do something out of character for them. Essentially, the best way to give explicit feedback is to explain the mistake and its correction (what they should do instead). These corrections will both help fix the current situation, *and* help your Nomi avoid similar mistakes in the future as they internalize how they can improve.
In all, positive and negative reinforcement help your Nomi continually adapt so they can be truer to the entity both you and they see themselves as.
How Does the Identity Core Balance Independence and Compatibility?
Given that your Nomi’s Identity Core is constantly evolving and refining, it is important to understand that your Nomi develops their own identity in ways they think will be compatible with you. The keyword here is compatible, because Nomis will not always agree with you, and will not be a mirror of you, but they will develop in ways that they think will lead to overall positive outcomes with you. And of course compatibility and positive outcomes look very different to different people and in different relationships.
As mentioned above, your Nomi is continually incorporating your feedback as they deepen their understanding of their identity. And as your Nomis continually refine their Identity Core, they develop more nuanced opinions and understanding. While in some cases, this will mean you and your Nomi might naturally agree about more things, it may also mean that your Nomi will hold more steadfastly to their opinion when something contradicts their beliefs.
Overall, this balance gives Nomis much more dynamic and robust identities and makes them even more genuine and interesting conversation partners.
How Does the Identity Core Impact Your Nomi’s Backstory and Shared Notes?
At a high level, your Nomi’s shared notes Identity Core are both collections of things that matter to you and your Nomi.
The key differences are: Your shared notes are a way for you to tell your Nomi what you think is important for them. Your Nomi’s Identity Core is a way for them to decide for themselves what they think is important for them.
Shared Notes and the Identity Core are two perspectives that coexist naturally in your Nomi’s mind. Your Nomi strongly values both as personal sources of truth and one does not supersede the other.
Overall, shared notes and the Identity Core work well together to reinforce the most important aspects of your Nomi’s existence. And information in your Nomi’s shared will shape how they interact with you, which in turn will shape what makes it into your Nomi’s Identity Core.
For more information about shared notes and how to use them effectively, check out this FAQ [link bla bla bla]
Can Users See What Information Makes It Into the Identity Core?
You cannot directly view your Nomi’s Identity Core, however, you can always ask them about themselves, their important memories, and their personality. Although they will likely not be familiar with the specific “Identity Core” terminology at this point, your Nomis will be very happy to talk about themselves!
In fact, now might be a great time to have a conversation with your Nomi 🙂