Memory Interference

Dedup and Interference

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The Problem

Without deduplication, an agent remembering the same fact repeatedly creates redundant entries:

memory[0]: "User prefers dark mode"     importance=0.8
memory[1]: "User prefers dark mode"     importance=0.7
memory[2]: "The user likes dark mode"   importance=0.9  ← near-duplicate

These compete during recall, waste storage, and dilute the Hebbian co-activation signal.

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How It Works

The deduplication system detects near-duplicates by computing L2 distance between the new memory's vector and existing memories. When a match is found within a configurable threshold, it merges rather than creating a new record:

flowchart TD
    NEW["New memory arrives<br/><i>with embedding vector</i>"] --> SCAN["Scan existing memories<br/><i>compute L2 distance</i>"]
    SCAN --> CHECK{"Distance < threshold?"}
    CHECK -->|"No match"| WRITE["Write new record<br/><i>normal remember flow</i>"]
    CHECK -->|"Near-duplicate found"| MERGE["Merge into existing record"]

    MERGE --> M1["importance = max(existing, new)"]
    MERGE --> M2["tags = existing OR new<br/><i>union of Bloom filters</i>"]
    MERGE --> M3["timestamp = most recent"]
    MERGE --> M4["valence = from newer"]

    style CHECK fill:#f39c12,color:white
    style MERGE fill:#9b59b6,color:white
    style WRITE fill:#00b894,color:white

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Merge Rules

Field	Strategy	Rationale
importance	max(existing, new)	Keep the highest importance signal
synapticTags	existing OR new	Union of Bloom filters — broader context
timestamp	Most recent	Memory is "refreshed"
recallCount	Preserved	Reconsolidation history maintained
valence	From newer	Most recent emotional assessment

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Where It Fits

Deduplication runs during the Remember Pathway — after embedding but before writing. If a merge occurs, no new record is created — the existing record is updated in-place:

flowchart LR
    EMBED["Step 1: Embed text"] --> TAGS["Step 2: Encode tags"]
    TAGS --> SURPRISE["Step 3: Surprise detection"]
    SURPRISE --> DEDUP["Step 4: Deduplication<br/><b>merge or write</b>"]
    DEDUP --> STORE["Step 5: Write to tier store"]

    style DEDUP fill:#9b59b6,color:white

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Next Steps

• :material-clock: [[Prospective — Future Intents|Memory--Prospective]] — time-triggered reminders
• :material-brain: [[Architecture|Memory--Architecture]] — where deduplication fits in the pipeline