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Synthetic Data Generation

Generate synthetic data using random generators, algorithms, statistical models, and Large Language Models (LLMs) to simulate real data for developing and testing solutions effectively.

Synthetic data can be a powerful tool when developing and testing solutions, especially when actual data doesnโ€™t yet exist or isnโ€™t allowed to be used. Synthetic, or artificially generated, data can have many of the characteristics of real data. Synthetic data is typically created using random generators, algorithms, or statistical models to simulate the characteristics and distributions of real data. However, this can be complex to produce or rely on tools with features of varying sophistication. With the availability of Large Language Models (LLMs), more relevant and schema-specific data may be generated that considers characteristics expressed in natural language.

Topics

  • Benefits of Synthetic Data Generation
    Synthetic data generation enables populating database metadata clones, supporting development, testing, and machine learning projects without using sensitive data from original tables.
  • Generate Synthetic Data
    Use DBMS_CLOUD_AI.GENERATE_SYNTHETIC_DATA function to generate synthetic data and query the data using Select AI actions.
  • Monitor and Troubleshoot Synthetic Data Generation
    When generating large amounts of data across many tables, Select AI splits synthetic data generation tasks into smaller chunks and runs tasks in parallel. The status of each chunk is tracked in the SYNTHETIC_DATA$<operation_id>_STATUS table.

Parent topic: Use Select AI for Natural Language Interaction with your Database

Benefits of Synthetic Data Generation

Synthetic data generation enables populating database metadata clones, supporting development, testing, and machine learning projects without using sensitive data from original tables.

Synthetic Data Generation offers the following benefits:

  • Populating metadata clones with synthetic data: A metadata clone replicates the structure of a database or schema without including actual data. Select AI allows synthetic data generation to populate these clones, protecting sensitive data while enabling development, testing, and creating templates. This approach supports performance and scalability testing.

  • Starting new projects: When starting a new project, actual data may not be available. Synthetic data provides realistic samples to help demonstrate concepts and gain support for project proposals.

  • Validating user experience: Synthetic data aids in testing user interfaces by providing diverse data sets to uncover design flaws, performance, and scalability issues.

  • Supporting AI and machine learning projects: Synthetic data is useful for training AI and machine learning models when real data is unavailable or restricted. LLMs can generate data with specific patterns to facilitate model training and scoring.

Generate Synthetic Data

Use DBMS_CLOUD_AI.GENERATE_SYNTHETIC_DATA function to generate synthetic data and query the data using Select AI actions.

To learn more, see GENERATE_SYNTHETIC_DATA Function and Example: Generate Synthetic Data.

Monitor and Troubleshoot Synthetic Data Generation

When generating large amounts of data across many tables, Select AI splits synthetic data generation tasks into smaller chunks and runs tasks in parallel. The status of each chunk is tracked in the SYNTHETIC_DATA$<operation_id>_STATUS table.

Synthetic data generation operations are logged in the tables DBA_LOAD_OPERATIONS and USER_LOAD_OPERATIONS. Use these tables to monitor the DBMS_CLOUD_AI.GENERATE_SYNTHETIC_DATA operation. See Track DBMS_CLOUD Load Operations for more details.

After running synthetic data generation in a given session, you can get the latest <operation_id> from USER_LOAD_OPERATION using the following:
SELECT max(id) FROM user_load_operations;

To view the synthetic data operations running in a different session, use the DBA_LOAD_OPERATIONS view.

View Status of Synthetic Data Generation

The status table of synthetic data generation operation shows the progress of each table and its corresponding chunk. The STATUS_TABLE column in USER_LOAD_OPERATIONS or DBA_LOAD_OPERATIONS shows the status table name. The table name is SYNTHETIC_DATA$<operation_id>_STATUS and it has following columns:

Name Datatype Description

ID

NUMBER

 Unique identifier of the record.

NAME

VARCHAR2

 Qualified name of the table, such as "ADB_USER"."EMPLOYEES"

BYTES

NUMBER

 Desired number of records for this data generation task

ROWS_LOADED

NUMBER

 Actual number of records generated.

CHECKSUM

VARCHAR2

 Starting value for the primary key during this data generation task.

LAST_MODIFIED

TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE

 Timestamp indicating when the record was last modified.

STATUS

VARCHAR2

 Status of the data generation task. The valid values are:
  • COMPLETED
  • FAILED
  • PENDING
  • SKIPPED

ERROR_CODE

NUMBER

 Error code, if the data generation task fails.

ERROR_MESSAGE

VARCHAR2

 Error message provided if the task fails.

END_TIME

TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE

 Timestamp marking the end of the data generation task.
Example: Check the Number of Records Generated for Each Table

To check the number of records generated for each table, issue the following:

SELECT name, SUM(rows_loaded) FROM synthetic_data$<operation_id>_status group by name;

Query ROWS_LOADED to confirm how many number of rows are loaded for each chunk, and SUM(ROWS_LOADED) for rows for each table. 

BEGIN
    DBMS_CLOUD_AI.GENERATE_SYNTHETIC_DATA(
        profile_name => 'GENAI',
        object_list => '[{"owner": "ADB_USER", "name": "DIRECTOR","record_count":150},
                         {"owner": "ADB_USER", "name": "MOVIE_ACTOR","record_count":300},
                         {"owner": "ADB_USER", "name": "CLASSES", "user_prompt":"all in fall semester","record_count":5},
                         {"owner": "ADB_USER", "name": "ACTOR","record_count":220},
                         {"owner": "ADB_USER", "name": "MOVIE","record_count":50}]'
    );
END;
/
 
 
-- Check loaded rows for each chunk
SQL> SELECT name, rows_loaded FROM synthetic_data$141_status order by name;
NAME                           ROWS_LOADED
------------------------------------------
"ADB_USER"."ACTOR"                        188
"ADB_USER"."ACTOR"                         32
"ADB_USER"."CLASSES"                        5
"ADB_USER"."DIRECTOR"                     150
"ADB_USER"."MOVIE"                         50
"ADB_USER"."MOVIE_ACTOR"                   38
"ADB_USER"."MOVIE_ACTOR"                  114
"ADB_USER"."MOVIE_ACTOR"                  148
 
 
 
-- Check loaded rows for each table
SQL> SELECT name, SUM(rows_loaded) FROM synthetic_data$141_status group by name;
 
NAME                      SUM(ROWS_LOADED)
------------------------------------------
"ADB_USER"."DIRECTOR"                     150
"ADB_USER"."MOVIE_ACTOR"                  300
"ADB_USER"."CLASSES"                        5
"ADB_USER"."ACTOR"                        220
"ADB_USER"."MOVIE"                         50

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