The outsourcing of our memory to machines expands the amount of data to which we have access, but degrades our brain’s own ability to remember things. Yet this process of offl oading our remembered information began with the invention of text, and met with similar critique even back then. We have been consistently using our brains less as hard drives and more as processors - putt ing our mental resources into active RAM. What’s diff erent now, however, is that it’s not just lists, dates, and recipes that are being stored for us, but entire processes. The processes we used to use for fi nding a doctor or a friend, mapping a route, or choosing a restaurant are being replaced by machines that may, in fact, do it bett er. What we lose in the bargain, however, is not just the ability to remember certain facts, but to call upon certain skills.