AI getting dumber the longer you chat? It's not the model—time to take control (opens in new tab)

One day I had the AI keep building out a feature, and partway through something felt off: replies got slower, it started rambling, it re-asked things I'd already told it, and with the work clearly unfinished it told me "all done, you can take a break now." At first I figured the model was just having an off day. Then I looked at the context—it had crept past 80%. I'd been so busy pushing forward I forgot to clear it. Cleared it, asked again, and instantly it was sharp again: fast and on point...