Entity Resolution
The data processing task of identifying and merging records from different sources that refer to the exact same real-world object, person, or organization.
Think of It Like This
Like realizing that 'Bob Smith', 'Robert S.', and 'Bobby Smith' in your contact list are actually all the exact same friend and merging their cards.
Entity resolution is crucial for maintaining high-quality databases, especially when combining disparate datasets. It typically involves blocking to find candidates and then applying similarity scoring to determine matches. Machine learning models, particularly those using embeddings, have greatly improved the accuracy of matching complex string variations.