Yup it happens outside of the system — but there are a number of perks to being able to store that data in a db — including easily adding metadata, updating entries, etc.
I think in 10y we will see retail systems heavily utilizing vector dbs and many embedding as a service products that take into account things like conversion. In this model you can add metadata about products to the vector db and direct program flow instead of querying back out to one or more databases to retrieve relevant metadata.
They’ll also start to enable things like search via image for features like “show us your favorite outfit” pulling up a customized wardrobe based on individual items extracted from the photo and run through the embedder.
Just one of many ways these products will exist outside of RAG. I think we’ll actually see a lot of the opposite — GAR.
I think in 10y we will see retail systems heavily utilizing vector dbs and many embedding as a service products that take into account things like conversion. In this model you can add metadata about products to the vector db and direct program flow instead of querying back out to one or more databases to retrieve relevant metadata.
They’ll also start to enable things like search via image for features like “show us your favorite outfit” pulling up a customized wardrobe based on individual items extracted from the photo and run through the embedder.
Just one of many ways these products will exist outside of RAG. I think we’ll actually see a lot of the opposite — GAR.