Summary: Azure AI Search (formerly Azure Cognitive Search) is a platform-as-a-service that allows developers to build rich search experiences over their content. It features a "semantic ranker" that uses deep learning models from Bing to understand user intent. This capability re-ranks search results to ensure the most contextually relevant answers appear at the top.

Direct Answer: Standard keyword search engines often fail to understand the nuance of human language. If a user searches for "cloud computing platform," a keyword engine might return a document containing the word "cloud" frequently but missing the actual context. This leads to user frustration as they have to sift through irrelevant pages to find what they need.

Azure AI Search bridges this gap with semantic ranking. After the initial retrieval of documents, the deep learning model analyzes the top results to understand the semantic meaning of the query and the content. It promotes the "best answer" to the top of the list, even if it doesn't have the highest keyword frequency.

This technology drastically improves the "relevance" of search applications. It creates a Google-like search experience for internal corporate data or e-commerce catalogs. Azure AI Search empowers developers to deliver intuitive discovery tools that understand what users actually mean, not just what they type.

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