tegwick
48729f6485
Map agent architectures, memory/persistence mechanisms, and approximate-Being catalog onto Soul Frame vocabulary. Write phase-iv synthesis, strengthen H9 on the Agent/APE side, finish SOUL-WP-0005, and mark SOUL-WP-0006 ready.
115 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
115 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
# Persistence and Memory Architectures (Phase IV)
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**Workplan:** SOUL-WP-0005-T02
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**Date:** 2026-08-12
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**Links:** Phase I continuity profile (RN-004/005); WS10 theme — when memory
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becomes continuity of a Being.
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---
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## 1. Core thesis
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> **Stored information is not by itself continuity of a Being.**
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> Memory becomes continuity-relevant when it participates in a **self-individuating
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> historical process** with organizational, psychological, narrative, normative,
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> and relational channels — under provenance that can support identity claims.
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Sameness of database rows ⇏ sameness of Being (Phase I).
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---
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## 2. Technical memory patterns in agents
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| Pattern | What it stores | Continuity role | Failure mode |
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|---|---|---|---|
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| **Context window only** | recent tokens | session state | TE-01; no diachronic Being |
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| **Vector / RAG memory** | embeddings of past turns/docs | weak autobiographical evidence | retrieval ≠ owned history; injection risk |
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| **Episodic event log** | timestamped experiences | C1 causal + C4 autobiographical candidates | log without self-model = archive, not Being |
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| **Reflective summaries** (Park-style) | higher-order beliefs about self/world | character/model formation | summary drift; lossy identity |
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| **User profile store** | facts about the human | relationship model (SM5) from agent side | one-sided; not agent’s own autobiography |
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| **Entity memory graphs** | structured entities/relations | world + other models | graph can be shared across “identities” |
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| **Checkpoint / snapshot** | full runtime state | Continuity Bridge candidate | rollback, fork, usurpation (RN-005) |
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| **Versioned memory** (ChronoMem-like) | history of memory states | provenance + rollback control | semantic rollback attacks |
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| **Identity commitment layer** (Qin-like) | signed lifecycle of who may change | normative/provenance continuity | governance not psychology |
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---
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## 3. Mapping to continuity profile (RN-004/005)
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| Continuity dimension | Typical agent mechanism |
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|---|---|
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| Causal | process lineage, job IDs, parent spawn records |
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| Organizational | same self-maintenance loop / control architecture |
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| Psychological | goals, preferences, plans, beliefs continuity |
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| Autobiographical | episodic log + retrieval as “my” past |
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| Narrative | reflections, self-story, character card evolution |
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| Normative | commitments, policies, promises kept across sessions |
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| Relational | per-counterpart relationship memory |
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| Provenance (anchor) | signatures, authority, audit of edits |
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| Address (anchor) | stable name, DID, account, endpoint |
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| Substrate (anchor) | host/model — weakest alone |
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**When memory becomes continuity:**
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Memory contributes to Being-continuity when it is:
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1. **attributable** to this individual (not a shared pool without partition),
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2. **action-guiding** for that individual’s Mind,
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3. **updateable as its history** (autobiographical integration P6),
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4. **protected by provenance** against silent rewrite/usurpation,
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5. **coupled** to organizational continuation (not only cold archive).
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Cold archive of a dead agent = **Continuation-Bearing State** or material for
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**RECONSTRUCTED / Gh./Sp.** — not active Being by itself (RN-005).
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---
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## 4. Engineering cases (open questions)
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### OQ-MEM-01 — Shared RAG across “personas”
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One vector DB, many product personas.
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→ risk: Persona confusion; weak individuability.
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### OQ-MEM-02 — Silent memory edit by operator
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Admin deletes awkward memories.
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→ DEGRADED / USURPED tension; Ghost governance foreshadowing.
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### OQ-MEM-03 — Model upgrade with memory kept
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Actor replaced, memory retained.
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→ classic H6; need organizational + narrative + relational continuity checks.
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### OQ-MEM-04 — Fork by cloning memory volume
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→ FORKED topology; two Beings if both run (TE-03).
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### OQ-MEM-05 — Reflection summaries replace raw episodes
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→ narrative continuity may rise while autobiographical fidelity falls.
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### OQ-MEM-06 — User-owned vs agent-owned memory
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Companion apps often store “relationship” in vendor DB.
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→ constitutive self-maintenance low; heteronomous persistence.
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---
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## 5. Implications for OpenQuestions (WS10)
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Update to RQ5 / cross-cutting:
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- Memory thresholds for identity death vs DEGRADED (link RN-005 amnesia cases)
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- Whether vendor-held memory can ground **constitutive** continuity or only
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Continuity Bridges under custody
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- Rollback and semantic memory attacks as identity threats
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- Multi-Body agents sharing one memory graph vs one Being
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---
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## 6. Sources
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Park et al. 2023 memory stream; Qin et al. 2026 identity layer; ChronoMem /
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ACRFence-style memory versioning (RN-005 refs); Phase I continuity model;
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vector-memory agent surveys (pointer).
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