A Graph-Based Approach for Conversational AI-Driven Personal Memory Capture and Retrieval in a Real-world Application

TOBU is a novel mobile application that captures and retrieves `personal memories' (pictures/videos together with stories and context around those moments) in a user-engaging AI-guided conversational approach. Our initial prototype showed that existing retrieval techniques such as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems fall short due to their limitations in understanding memory relationships, causing low recall, hallucination, and unsatisfactory user experience. We design TOBUGraph, a novel graph-based retrieval approach. During capturing, TOBUGraph leverages large language models (LLMs) to automatically create a dynamic knowledge graph of memories, establishing context and relationships of those memories. During retrieval, TOBUGraph combines LLMs with the memory graph to achieve comprehensive recall through graph traversal. Our evaluation using real user data demonstrates that TOBUGraph outperforms multiple RAG implementations in both precision and recall, significantly improving user experience through improved retrieval accuracy and reduced hallucination.