>Solved to the point that squeezing a bit more recall out of vector retrieval isn't the problem anymore.
I think this is a bit of a strawman.
I don't think recall is the main point these systems are trying to sell us on, it's more about robustness and ease of use compared to building something inhouse or using a lower level library to build a system on top of it just for this small part of your overall project/product (be it RAG, search, whatever).
I guess Lucene-based solutions, while very mature overall in terms of engineering, lagged behind this functionality (out of caution, trying to build what's going to be long term useful) and are also perceived a bit too cumbersome. So these stores do make sense, I think. The core functionality is nothing too complex (at least HNSW), but hiding it behind a stable black box with just a few inputs and levers, has value for people that are likely to use these stores.
I think this is a bit of a strawman. I don't think recall is the main point these systems are trying to sell us on, it's more about robustness and ease of use compared to building something inhouse or using a lower level library to build a system on top of it just for this small part of your overall project/product (be it RAG, search, whatever).
I guess Lucene-based solutions, while very mature overall in terms of engineering, lagged behind this functionality (out of caution, trying to build what's going to be long term useful) and are also perceived a bit too cumbersome. So these stores do make sense, I think. The core functionality is nothing too complex (at least HNSW), but hiding it behind a stable black box with just a few inputs and levers, has value for people that are likely to use these stores.