How It Works
Vectors
An ordered list of numbers, such as [0.12, -0.8, 0.33], that stands for a point or direction in space. AI systems turn words, images and sounds into vectors so they can measure how alike two things are — nearby vectors mean similar things. 'Vector databases' store these lists so AI tools can quickly find related material.
Origin · no single documented coiner
A mathematical idea built up over the 1800s; William Rowan Hamilton used the word 'vector' in his 1840s work on quaternions, and Josiah Willard Gibbs and Oliver Heaviside shaped the modern vector notation in the 1880s. Its use in AI to represent meaning came much later and has no single originator.
No single primary source link for this term.