“Planned forgetting”

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FAU research team develops adaptive assistants for the deletion of superfluous data

In company administrations, files pile up after files. It is sometimes difficult for employees to keep track of things in the flood of tables, presentations and texts. In addition, every single file requires energy and disk space – and thus costs the company and pollutes the environment. But what should be deleted? Where is the best place to start?

Psychologists from FAU are currently working with computer scientists from the University of Bamberg on an automated solution: In the interdisciplinary project “Dare2Del”, they are developing a system using machine learning in cooperation with users that helps to delete irrelevant data. This is because people rarely delete files while working, only if they directly interfere with the workflow – this is what the psychologists Prof. Dr. Cornelia Niessen and Kyra Göbel, Chair of Psychology in Working Life at FAU, have found out. The new system should increase the willingness to delete files, relieve memory and improve concentration. Read more…