A Fun & Absurd Introduction to Vector Databases • Alexander Chatzizacharias • GOTO 2025

This presentation was recorded at GOTO Copenhagen 2025. #GOTOcon #GOTOcph https://gotocph.com Alexander Chatzizacharias - Software Engineer at JDriven RESOURCES https://bsky.app/profile/glycin.bsky.social https://twitter.com/glyc1n https://github.com/glycin https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-chatzizacharias ABSTRACT Vector databases have emerged as an exciting new tech in the world of data storage. Unsurprisingly enough, they have become the go-to choice for storing vectors (who would have thought?!) and are widely used in conjunction with generative AI. Apart from their use in AI applications, they can also be extremely handy as search engines, especially if you are looking to implement natural language interfaces. If you're reading this and eager to harness the power of vector databases to bring your application to the next level, then this talk is tailor-made for you! Whether you're an experienced database professional or an adventurous developer seeking fresh perspectives, Alexander will guide you through the process of getting started with a Vector Database. He will demonstrate how to translate your data into vectors and master the art of querying that data. From text search to image search to generative search, Alexander's goal is to provide an engaging introduction to Vector Databases and, hopefully, inspire you to explore their full potential. [...] TIMECODES 00:00 Intro 01:28 Goal of this talk 02:54 Vectors 05:47 Machine learning 09:05 Vector databases 14:53 Demo 16:45 Vector databases continued 19:16 Implementing our own search 21:40 Demo: HNSW 25:04 Demo: Matrix 28:17 Demo: D&D 31:49 Demo: Pokemon 36:34 Demo: D&D 41:55 Demo: Duncan Hills 45:07 Outro Download slides and read the full abstract here: https://gotocph.com/2025/sessions/3588 RECOMMENDED BOOKS Alex Castrounis • AI for People and Business • https://amzn.to/3NYKKTo Phil Winder • Reinforcement Learning • https://amzn.to/3t1S1VZ Holden Karau, Trevor Grant, Boris Lublinsky, Richard Liu & Ilan Filonenko • Kubeflow for Machine Learning • https://amzn.to/3JVngcx Kelleher & Tierney • Data Science (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series) • https://amzn.to/3AQmIRg Lakshmanan, Robinson & Munn • Machine Learning Design Patterns • https://amzn.to/2ZD7t0x Lakshmanan, Görner & Gillard • Practical Machine Learning for Computer Vision • https://amzn.to/3m9HNjP https://twitter.com/GOTOcon https://www.linkedin.com/company/goto- https://www.instagram.com/goto_con https://www.facebook.com/GOTOConferences #VectorDatabase #Vectors #DataStorage #Weaviate #Elastic #GenerativeAI #Database #TodayInTech #AlexanderChatzizacharias CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket at https://gotopia.tech Sign up for updates and specials at https://gotopia.tech/newsletter SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL - new videos posted almost daily. https://www.youtube.com/user/GotoConferences/?sub_confirmation=1