After encoding, “capstan” sits near “winch” and far from “cafeteria menu.” Why does semantic search work?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
After encoding, “capstan” sits next to “winch” and a long way from “cafeteria menu.” Distance in that space is related meaning, which is why semantic search works. Farthest is not best, cooling distance is not meaning, and keyword overlap is not the whole story.
Full Explanation
Encoder embeddings place related meanings near each other. Semantic search uses that geometry. It is not “farthest is best,” not cooling distance, and not keyword-only overlap.