Constant digital recording of life will help ensure access to a picture of our lives that goes beyond sometimes unreliable memories.
However, researchers also believe it creates potential for deep fakes to alter accurate capturing of past occurrences.
University of Würzburg and Tübingen academics are seeking deeper insights into the implications for human memories of constant recording.
They say that access to vast new databases of pictures and information will have a “profound influence” on how we supplement and verify our memories of events.
Contemporary humans tend to have thousands of images recording their everyday lives. Previous generations had a relatively small number of photographs taken and developed before digital technology was readily available.
Researcher Stephan Schwan said digital resources could be used to support people with memory difficulties and dementia.
“Similarly, digital recordings could also help to preserve memories that are important to our collective memory,” he said.
“The range of digital ways of remembering is becoming broader, just think of virtual and augmented realities.”
On the flipside, fellow researcher Fabian Hutmacher says digital data could be manipulated.
“Arguably, deepfakes could not only play a role with respect to political actors and events, but also with respect to memories about our own lives,” he said.
“In most cases, we don’t have enough reliable data to draw definite conclusions regarding opportunities and risks yet. Autobiographical memories are an important part of what makes us human.”
The subject is canvassed in an article in the latest Psychological Inquiry journal. The full report is on the University of Würzburg website.
