This is incorrect.  None of these functions modify the value of a column.  All of them are purely functional and return a jsonb value with the specified field(s) replaced.<p>The significance is one of performance and convenience: before, you would have had to construct a new jsonb object with only the field(s) you wanted modified changed.  (In fact it is possible to define these new operators in terms of such; I have done so.)  Now you can just use these handy built-in functions, which presumably perform better than the manual method as well.