The launch of large language models (LLMs) has paved the way for advancements in several areas of AI and machine learning systems. But as with any piece of powerful technology, LLMs have their limitations.
The biggest downside is that they are only as good as the dataset they’re trained on. If the data has inaccuracies or biases, these will be reflected in the models’ outputs. This has raised ethical concerns regarding AI use, and has driven researchers towards developing more reliable models.
An exciting breakthrough in this journey is the introduction of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). In this blog, we’ll discuss more about RAG and its use cases.
What is Retrieval-Augmented Generation?
RAG is a technique that combines the best elements of both retrieval-based and generative AI models. Standard generative models create content based only on their internalized data. On the other hand, retrieval-based models look externally to a database or storage system to find relevant information.
RAG models, then, use the best of both worlds by assessing information from their trained database and augmenting it with external data retrieval.
Use Cases for Retrieval-Augmented Generation
The generative AI market is growing rapidly, and is expected to increase to $180 billion in the next eight years as businesses across industries race to incorporate it into their operations. With that in mind, let’s look at the primary use cases of RAG, and why companies think this added framework for LLMs will prove valuable.
Answering Questions
Back then, users relied on Google searches to get quick answers to questions. With the release of ChatGPT, people have begun to rely more and more on AI chatbots for information. A study compared the results between Google and ChatGPT, and found that the latter’s answers provided more context and thoughtfulness.
With RAG in place, these AI chatbots can now provide factual and up-to-date answers. If they receive a query they haven’t encountered before, they can utilize retrieval augmentation to cross-reference data from outside sources, making their responses more comprehensive and reliable.
Improving Personalization
Ever wondered how Netflix, Amazon, or Spotify seem to know exactly what you might like? That’s the power of AI personalization. However, these suggestions are only as accurate as the algorithms that power them. By incorporating RAG into personalization algorithms, businesses can vastly improve their recommendations.
RAG-enhanced models can pull data from various sources, allowing the AI to create a more well-rounded profile of a user. This means your Spotify Discover Weekly playlist could become even more on point, and your Amazon suggestions might get scarily accurate.
Retrieving Documents or Files
RAG can be useful in scenarios where a user needs to pull specific documents or files from a database. For instance, in the field of legal tech, AI can sift through hundreds of thousands of cases, statutes, and legal documents in seconds, saving lawyers precious time. By using RAG technology, AI can generate precise search results by augmenting its internal knowledge with details extracted from the whole legal database.
The same can be applied in a healthcare context, where healthcare providers can leverage RAG to quickly and accurately pull up medical records or delve into extensive medical research databases.
Fine-tuning Content Creation
From AI-generated articles to personalized emails, generative AI has already demonstrated its capacity to produce unique, high-quality content. However, with the addition of a RAG enhancement, these content creations can be stepped up a notch.
An AI model utilizing RAG can pull in fresh data from external sources, augmenting the content it generates with new trends, statistics, or up-to-date information. This can be particularly useful in creating news articles, reports, and other content where timeliness and accuracy are key. You can expect a generative AI to create more meaningful and contextually aware content, which can prove to be a game-changer in industries like journalism, content marketing, and e-commerce.
Conclusion
Artificial intelligence has come a long way, and the advent of RAG is just one of the many pivotal developments in the field. The power of combining generative and retrieval models yields a tool that is not only smart but also adaptive and capable of learning from diverse data sources outside of its initial training set.
It’s an exciting time in the AI realm, and it will be interesting to see how RAG further transforms the industry in the years to come.