Oracle x AI x Database: Future Technology Explained

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Oracle x AI x Database: An easy-to-understand explanation of the technology that will pave the way for the future, even for beginners!

Hello, I'm John, a veteran IT writer. These days, you hear the word "AI" almost every day. From self-driving cars to drawing AI and writing AI, AI is starting to play an active role in all aspects of our lives. Meanwhile, in the business world, especially in the field of "data," a certain powerful combination is attracting attention. That is the one I'd like to introduce to you today."Oracle, AI, and Databases"It is a fusion of technologies.

"A database is that thing that seems complicated, right?" "I've heard of Oracle, but..." If you're thinking that way, don't worry! In this article, we'll explain in an easy-to-understand way, even for those without specialist knowledge, what this latest technology is and how it is going to revolutionize our work and life, as if an IT-loving friend was talking to you. Understanding this technology may give you a glimpse into the future of business.

Why is "Oracle x AI x Database" so hot right now?

When you hear the name "Oracle," you may have a strong image of a database giant used by many companies. In fact, for decades, Oracle has been at the heart of systems that manage important data around the world (software for organizing and storing information). So why is Oracle teaming up with AI and attracting so much attention again now?

The answer is,"I want to use the power of AI to make better use of the vast amounts of data that companies have!"This is because there is a strong need to do so. Many companies have what could be called a "treasure trove" of data, such as customer information, sales history, and product data. However, there are many cases where this data is not being fully utilized. Analysis is difficult unless you are a data scientist with specialized knowledge, and the data is scattered in various places and difficult to use.

That's where Oracle's new strategy of embedding AI directly into its databases comes in. This allows companies to use AI to analyze the data they already own without moving it from a safe environment (such as their own cloud environment) and obtain new business hints (insights). It's like having a "super-intelligent assistant dedicated to your own data." Oracle's recent strong performance is also evidence that the market is evaluating this AI and data fusion strategy.

Core Technology: How AI makes databases smarter?

So, how exactly does AI work within a database? Let's take a look at some of the key technologies.

Generative AI and large-scale language models (LLMs) are combined with databases

Recently, the much talked about "generative AI" (AI that automatically creates text and images) and its brain, the "large-scale language model (LLM)" (AI that can learn from large amounts of text data and understand and generate language like humans) have arrived in the world of databases. Oracle is actively incorporating these cutting-edge AI technologies into its database services.

This allows you to, for example:

Natural language interaction: Even if you don't know specialized database languages (such as SQL), you can simply ask, as in everyday conversation, "What were the top five selling products last month?" and the AI will understand and return an answer.
Automating data analysis: AI can take over some of the complex data analysis tasks, allowing humans to focus on more important decisions.
Reporting assistance: Based on the analysis results, the AI automatically generates easy-to-understand reports.

This dramatically lowers the barrier to using data, enabling more people to derive value from it.

Oracle Autonomous Database Select AI: The era of "talking" to data

Oracle's"Autonomous Database Select AI"This is a truly magical technology that allows you to retrieve data just by "talking" to the database.

Previously, to extract information from a database, it was necessary to use a specialized programming language called "SQL (Structured Query Language)." This was difficult for beginners to understand, and was one of the major barriers to utilizing data.

However, with "Select AI," for example, a salesperson can simply type in "What was the most sold product last month in the Tokyo area?" in Japanese, and the AI will understand the question, automatically generate the appropriate SQL statement, query the database, and display the results in an easy-to-understand manner. Knowledge of SQL may no longer be necessary. This will be a huge advantage in making quick data-based decisions in the business world.

AI Vector Search: A vector search that's good at finding similar things

Another noteworthy AI technology is"AI Vector Search"Unlike traditional keyword searches, this is a technology that finds information based on the similarity of data content and "meaning." A "vector" is a collection of numbers that represents the characteristics of data, and AI uses this to determine the relevance and closeness of data.

For example, you can do this:

Show the participant an image of a product and instruct them to "find a product with a similar design."
Automatically finds past cases and FAQs similar to the customer inquiry content (text).
Semantically search for documents related to a specific topic from a vast amount of internal documents.

In particular, it is extremely useful for utilizing unstructured data, such as images, audio, video, and long text, which are difficult to handle in conventional databases. Oracle has incorporated this vector search function into its database.Embedded Vector Database), companies can now use AI to perform deeper analysis of the diverse data they hold. This functionality has been enhanced in the latest version, Oracle Database 23ai.

Oracle's Grand Strategy: Unlocking Enterprise Data with AI

Oracle's goal is not simply to provide AI functions, but to create an environment in which companies can safely and effectively use AI to leverage the "trusted data" they have accumulated over the years.

Leveraging and securing existing data

As CTO Larry Ellison (Chief Technology Officer) says, "Most of the world's valuable data is stored in Oracle databases," and it is no exaggeration. Many large companies use Oracle databases for their core systems, and data that could be said to be the lifeline of their business is stored there.

Oracle's strength is that it can analyze this data without having to transfer it to an external AI service.AI processing can be performed within the databaseThis brings the following benefits:

Improved security:Since highly confidential data is not released to the outside, the risk of information leaks is reduced.
Cost reduction:This eliminates the hassle and expense of moving large amounts of data.
Improved real-time performance:AI processing occurs closer to where the data is generated, enabling faster analysis and action.

This is a very attractive proposition, especially for large enterprises that place a premium on security and data governance.

The final piece: developer community

But there is another key element to Oracle's true success and sustainable growth in this AI strategy:"Developer"The key is to capture their hearts.

Until now, Oracle has grown through top-down sales to the executives, such as the CIOs (Chief Information Officers) of large companies. However, in the modern cloud era, developers who create new applications and services are gaining a great influence in technology selection (they are also called the "new kingmakers").

Unfortunately, Oracle hasn't had a particularly strong relationship with the developer community in the past, but the company is aware of this issue and has been working to improve its developer presence in recent years.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) improvements:We are working to provide a free tier for OCI, a straightforward pricing structure, and easy-to-use development tools.
Oracle Code Assist:We have announced an AI-powered programming assistant to help Java developers on OCI.
Open source contributions:We also provide open source databases such as MySQL, and are exploring collaboration with the community.
Oracle Database 23ai Free:We provide a free version of the database so that developers can easily try out the latest AI functions.

The key to Oracle's future in the AI era will be whether we can create an environment that makes developers want to try out Oracle's technology and provide a platform where they can unleash their creativity.

Practical examples and future prospects: A world where data begins to tell the tale

So, in what specific situations will Oracle's AI and database fusion technology be useful, and what kind of future will it bring?

Examples of use in various business situations

Enhanced Business Intelligence:Select AI will enable executives and field personnel to analyze data in natural language and make quick decisions, even if they are not experts.
Improving customer experience:By using AI to analyze customer behavioral history and inquiry content, we can propose products and services that are optimized for each individual.
Automate and streamline business processes:AI supports and streamlines various operations, such as anomaly detection (such as abnormalities in meter data), fraud detection, and supply chain optimization. There are also examples of AI being used in Oracle's "Customer Platform."
Creating new services:It allows you to discover new patterns and relationships from previously hidden data, leading to the development of innovative products and services.

Multi-Cloud Strategy and the Democratization of AI

Oracle will make its databases available not only on its own cloud service, OCI, but also on other major cloud platforms such as AWS (Amazon Web Services), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud."Multi-cloud strategy"This allows companies to use Oracle's database and AI technologies in the environment that best suits them, without being tied to a specific cloud vendor.

This is an important step in bringing AI technology to more companies and more people, and promoting the "democratization of AI." It brings us closer to a world where anyone can benefit from AI, even without special expertise.

Oracle's Strengths in the Age of AI Database Warring States

Many companies are developing database solutions that utilize AI, and we are in an era of fierce competition. What are Oracle's unique strengths in this environment?

Overwhelming customer base and data volume:With a long history of supporting mission-critical systems around the world, our clients have accumulated vast amounts of important data in their Oracle databases, which is a major advantage in training AI models and improving their accuracy.
AI integration directly into your database:Running AI processing inside the database without moving the data outside provides security, cost, and performance advantages, and is at the heart of Oracle's "Bring AI Closer to the Data" strategy.
Enterprise-grade reliability and robustness:Our experience in supporting mission-critical systems (systems that must never stop) in the finance, communications, and public sectors, among others, has given us high reliability and security, a strength that no other company has.
Comprehensive solution:We have a system in place that allows us to provide end-to-end AI-based solutions, including not only databases, but also the business applications (ERP, CRM, etc.) that run on them and cloud infrastructure (OCI).

Of course, AI-native companies like OpenAI and Google are strong rivals, but Oracle is trying to establish a unique position with a more practical approach of "safely and efficiently leveraging a company's existing data with AI."

Important points to be aware of (risks and considerations)

Oracle's AI database technology has great potential, but there are a few things to keep in mind when considering its implementation and use.

Complexity of implementation and operation:Oracle's products, while powerful, can be complex to set up and operate. Costs and expertise can be a challenge, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. However, autonomous services like Autonomous Database represent an effort to reduce this complexity.
Concerns about vendor lock-in:Oracle's multi-cloud strategy is one attempt to alleviate the risk of vendor lock-in, which means becoming too dependent on a particular vendor's technology and making it difficult to switch to other options in the future.
Limitations of AI and ethical challenges:AI is not omnipotent. AI decisions are not always correct, and they may sometimes produce unexpected results or bias. When using AI, it is also important to ensure ethical aspects and transparency.
Rate of change:AI technology is evolving rapidly, and so to prevent the technology you deploy from quickly becoming outdated, it requires continuous learning and updating.

It is important to understand these points and carefully consider your company's circumstances and objectives.

Latest Updates and Roadmap Highlights

Oracle is actively announcing new technologies and services to accelerate the fusion of AI and databases.

Oracle Database 23ai:The latest version of the database includes new features such as enhanced "AI Vector Search" and "JSON Relational Duality" that allows flexible handling of JSON (a type of data description format) data and relational data (tabular data), expanding the scope of AI utilization. "Oracle Database 23ai Free" is also available for free trial.
Oracle Autonomous Database Select AI:As mentioned above, this is a groundbreaking feature that allows you to operate a database using natural language, significantly lowering the hurdle of data analysis.
OCI Generative AI Services:A fully managed service that delivers customizable large-scale language models (LLMs) on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, enabling enterprises to build their own generative AI applications.
Huge investment in data centers:To meet the surging demand for AI, Oracle is investing billions of dollars in expanding its data centers, improving the processing power and stability of its cloud services.
Developer tools improvements:We are working to create an environment that makes it easier for developers to build AI applications, including through AI-assisted development tools such as "Oracle Code Assist" and enhancements to the Kubernetes (container management system) engine.

These moves demonstrate Oracle's strong commitment to significantly grow its database and cloud businesses with AI at the core of its business.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What exactly is Oracle?: A1: Oracle is a world-renowned technology company that provides database management systems (software for efficiently organizing, storing, and using large amounts of information) mainly to large corporations and government agencies. Recently, it has also been focusing on cloud services and AI technology.
Q2: What are the benefits of incorporating AI into a database?: A2: There are many! For example, even if you don't have specialized knowledge, you can analyze data by speaking (Select AI), easily find similar things in images and text (AI Vector Search), and AI can automatically perform complex data processing that was previously done by humans. As a result, work efficiency will increase and it will become easier to discover new business opportunities.
Q3: What exactly is so great about "Oracle Autonomous Database Select AI"?: A3: Until now, a specialized language called SQL was needed to operate a database, but with "Select AI," you can simply say something like "Show me last month's sales list" in natural language like Japanese or English, and the AI will automatically translate it into SQL and retrieve the data. It's amazing how you can use it as if you were having a conversation with the database.
Q4: When is "AI Vector Search" useful?: A4: For example, it is good at "ambiguous searches" and "semantic searches" that are difficult with keywords alone, such as "searching for images of fruits similar to this apple image" among the many product images your company has, or "searching for emails with content similar to complaints about returns" among the many inquiry emails from customers. This leads to new discoveries and improved work efficiency.
Q5: What is Oracle Database 23ai Free? Does it cost money?: A5: "Oracle Database 23ai Free" is a free version of "Oracle Database 23ai", the latest database provided by Oracle. It is provided so that developers, students, or those who simply want to try the latest technology can easily experience new features such as AI Vector Search. It is ideal for learning and small-scale development.

Oracle x AI x Database: A thorough explanation of the technological innovations that will pave the way to the future!