Vector database
A vector database stores embeddings and can quickly find the ones closest in meaning to a question. It is the usual way to give an AI assistant access to a large library of an organisation's own documents.
In one line, for a 12-year-old
A vector database is a library sorted by meaning, so the AI can grab the right pages fast.
An example
A city's 311 assistant looks up the right bylaw in a vector database before answering a resident's question.
Why it matters to people
If personal files go into a vector database, the same privacy rules apply as for any other database: limit who can query it and what it holds.