Oracle DB AI: Select AI & natural-language SQL

Oracle put AI inside the database. This guide tours the DB-AI trio — Select AI (ask questions in English, get SQL), AI Vector Search and JSON Duality — and shows the fastest way to try Select AI.

Configure an AI profile

Select AI uses an *AI profile* that names a provider and which schema objects it may see.

BEGIN
  DBMS_CLOUD_AI.create_profile(
    profile_name => 'HR_AI',
    attributes   => '{"provider":"openai",
                      "credential_name":"AI_CRED",
                      "object_list":[{"owner":"HR","name":"EMP"},
                                      {"owner":"HR","name":"DEPT"}]}');
END;
/

Ask in natural language

EXEC DBMS_CLOUD_AI.set_profile('HR_AI');

SELECT AI how many employees per department earn above average;

-- see the generated SQL instead of running it
SELECT AI showsql how many employees per department earn above average;

Where the rest of DB AI fits

• AI Vector Search — semantic search and RAG over your rows (see the Vector Search guide).
• JSON Duality views — the same data as relational AND JSON documents, ideal for AI app backends.
• Select AI narrate — get a prose answer instead of rows, for chat-style apps.

Check your understanding