Oracle announced its plans to add semantic search capabilities using AI vectors to Oracle Database 23c. The collection of features, called AI Vector Search, includes a new vector data type, vector indexes, and vector search SQL operators that enable the Oracle Database to store the semantic content of documents, images, and other unstructured data as vectors, and use these to run fast similarity queries. These new capabilities also support Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), a breakthrough generative AI technique that combines large language models (LLMs) and private business data to deliver responses to natural language questions. RAG provides higher accuracy and avoids having to expose private data by including it in the LLM training data.
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“Oracle Database is the leading repository of business data, and the combination of business data and semantic data is what enterprises need to implement artificial intelligence solutions,” said Juan Loaiza, executive vice president, Mission-Critical Database Technologies, Oracle. “Searches on a combination of business and semantic data are easier, faster, and more precise if both types of data are managed by a single database. By adding AI Vector Search to Oracle Database, we enable customers to quickly and easily get the benefits of artificial intelligence without sacrificing security, data integrity, or performance. Using Oracle AI Vector search does not require machine learning expertise. All database users, including developers and administrators, can learn to use it in less than 30 minutes.”
Oracle will also enable applications built on Oracle Database and Autonomous Database to add an LLM-based natural language interface, providing a simple and intuitive way for end-users to quickly ask for the data they need by just posing natural language questions. In addition, Oracle Database tools such as APEX and SQL Developer will be enhanced with generative AI capabilities to enable developers to use natural language to generate applications or generate SQL queries without needing to write code.
Oracle Database 23c, code named “App Simple,” focuses on simplifying the way data professionals, developers, and data users interact with data by declaring their intended outcome instead of hand coding. Data systems will generate the solution leveraging new database technologies like JSON Relational Duality Views and AI Vector Search combined with new natural language interface capabilities. Additionally, developers will be able to generate complete applications by combining these technologies with Oracle’s low-code APEX development framework. This approach represents the future of data and application development and will enable massive productivity gains.
“Vector search is fundamentally an OLTP feature, as it needs scalability, performance, and reliability. Vendors like Oracle that have a proven track record of delivering mission-critical OLTP will be the winners in this market,” said Holger Mueller, vice president and principal analyst, Constellation Research. “Oracle’s DNA to deliver enterprise-class performance will be a key capability for its new vector-based offering, building on the trust and confidence that CxOs have developed for the Oracle Database.”
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The latest updates to Oracle Database services and products include:
Modern Oracle Database and AI application development
- Oracle Autonomous Database:Â Makes it easy for developers to extend existing applications with natural language capabilities by posing natural language questions directly to Autonomous Database. Autonomous Database takes an open, flexible API approach to integrating LLMs so that developers can select the best LLM from Oracle or third parties to generate SQL queries to respond to these questions.
- Oracle Autonomous Database Free Container Image:Â Allows developers to create cloud-native applications with Autonomous Database using a free, downloadable image with the same advanced capabilities as the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Always Free Autonomous Database. By allowing developers to use Autonomous Database in the environment that best suits their needs, including their own laptop, they get the simplicity and power of a self-managing database, including all the low-code, ETL, analytics, and reporting capabilities of Autonomous Database Data Studio, with the ability to migrate the application to the cloud without needing to make any changes.
- Oracle APEX:Â Helps developers accelerate the process of building secure, scalable, and feature-rich enterprise applications by using AI to convert natural language prompts into SQL queries and then creating the desired app components. Additionally, APEX is introducing an integrated workflow and process automation capability that can invoke actions, trigger approvals, send emails, and more.
- GoldenGate 23c Free:Â Enables developers, DBAs, analysts, and students to use the industry-leading Data Integration and Data Mesh capabilities of GoldenGate for free. GoldenGate 23c Free features a new, highly simplified user experience that makes it easy for even novices to configure data replication and integration, as well as simpler and more intuitive run-time observability and diagnostics.
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