Beginner’s Guide: Mastering the Basics of Retrieval Augmented Generation

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Getting Started with Retrieval Augmented Generation

Maxime Vermeir

July 31, 2024

As organizations continue to look for practical uses of generative AI, one technique has shown significant promise to be applied to a variety of use cases. Considering the fact that high-quality data is the base component of any successful generative AI implementation, it’s become clear to a lot of companies that they need to prepare and transform the valuable data that’s locked away inside of their documents.

What is RAG?
How do I transform my documents for RAG or my private LLM?
How do I prepare data for RAG?
The technical mechanisms behind RAG

One specific reason to do this is to be able to leverage retrieval augmented generation (RAG) , which helps with defining a knowledge domain within which the LLM should operate, your company data. At the heart of RAG’s promise is its ability to drastically reduce “hallucinations” in LLMs—those instances where AI generates plausible but incorrect or irrelevant information. But what exactly is RAG, and how does it achieve this feat? And is what is the importance of having document structures perfectly preserved? Let’s unpack this together.

What is RAG?

Your company data is the Library of Alexandria at the peak of its ancient glory, with its knowledge-laden scrolls and texts. Now, picture a futuristic AI, much like a sage from a sci-fi saga, capable of accessing this boundless wisdom instantaneously to answer any query thrown its way. This is the essence of RAG—an AI methodology that amplifies the capabilities of large language models (LLMs) by dynamically fetching additional knowledge as needed, much like consulting the universe’s most comprehensive library on the fly. This process doesn’t just add layers to AI’s understanding; it deepens its responses, making them as nuanced and enriched as the most well-informed human experts.

Retrieval augmented generation is similar to giving LLMs a research assistant, allowing them to pull in external knowledge dynamically to bolster their responses. This doesn’t just add depth; it ensures the information provided is accurate and relevant to the query at hand. An LLM tasked with answering questions on a topic it was not explicitly trained on will lead to hallucinations. With RAG, it can now access and integrate fresh, accurate data on the fly, making its responses more reliable and contextually grounded.

For an in-depth exploration of RAG’s mechanics and advantages, consider this research article on Arxiv.org , which details how RAG leverages external databases to enhance LLM output accuracy and relevance.

How do I transform my documents for RAG or my private LLM?

One of the questions that a lot of companies find themselves asking currently is, “How can I prepare my trove of documents - from PDFs to DOCXs - for this complex AI journey?” ABBYY is here to help, the maestro of document transformation, turning the inaccessible into invaluable. This transformation process is critical, as the quality of data fed into RAG directly impacts the quality of its output. The steps involve digitizing documents, extracting valuable data, and then structuring this data in a way that’s digestible for AI.

Here are the high-level steps to get your documents ready:

• Document Digitization: Using OCR , transform your physical documents into digital formats. The key here is to achieve high accuracy on both the text and the structure of the document when converted.
• Data Extraction and Structuring: Here, ABBYY’s expertise shines, extracting critical data points and structuring them into a format ready for AI consumption.
• Integration with AI Systems: Using APIs, this structured data is easily integrated with RAG or LLM systems, such as LangChain or Embedchain , preparing them for a journey through the knowledge library of your organization.

How do I prepare my data for RAG?

Preparing your data for RAG involves more than just extraction and formatting; it requires a meticulous approach. It’s in this step as well that ABBYY’s AI platform can help in getting you ready to go.

This involves:

• Cleaning and Annotating: Begin with purifying your data streams, removing any inaccuracies or irrelevancies which can be done through ABBYY’s expert models to facilitate the process.
• Diversification: Incorporate a multitude of perspectives into your data, By using ABBYY’s expert models you can extract the right information from 80+ types of documents without lifting a finger.
• Enhancing Data Quality: Elevate the quality of your data, ensuring it’s as accurate and contextually rich, This requires advanced capabilities such as NLP and NER to help achieve this level. ABBYY’s market-leading platform enables you to achieve this through an amazingly easy-to-use UI, making the technology accessible to all.

This preparation enhances the data’s quality, ensuring that the information RAG pulls from is as accurate and bias-free as possible. A well-prepared dataset minimizes the risk of inaccuracies in AI-generated content, laying a solid foundation for RAG to operate effectively. Diverse, high-quality datasets lead to more informed and nuanced AI outputs, directly addressing the challenge of hallucinations in LLMs.

For further reading on the impact of data quality on RAG’s performance and methods to prepare data effectively, head over to this blog .

Click here

Technical deep dive: How RAG empowers AI with precision and context

In the quest to make AI as insightful and accurate as possible, retrieval augmented generation (RAG) stands out as a beacon of innovation. At its core, RAG addresses a fundamental challenge: while large language models (LLMs) are adept at generating human-like responses, their knowledge is frozen at the point of their last training. RAG transforms LLMs from static repositories of information into dynamic learners, capable of consulting an ever-updating library of information.

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The mechanism behind RAG

Query processing

RAG begins its magic when an LLM receives a query. Unlike traditional models that would directly generate an answer based on pre-trained data, a RAG-enhanced LLM takes an additional, crucial step: it seeks out external sources to find the most current and relevant information. This process is akin to a student not just relying on their memorized notes but also consulting the latest textbooks and articles to answer a question comprehensively.

Data retrieval

At this stage, RAG employs a retrieval model to sift through vast external databases, searching for information that matches the query’s context. This model translates the query into a machine-readable format (embedding), comparing it against a pre-indexed database to find the best matches. It’s like using a highly sophisticated search engine that understands exactly what information the LLM needs to formulate its response.

Integration and response generation

Once the relevant external data is identified and retrieved, RAG seamlessly integrates this information with the LLM’s internal knowledge. The model then crafts a response that not only draws from its vast training but is also supplemented with the latest data fetched by RAG. This process ensures that the LLM’s output is not just plausible but accurate and grounded in the most current information available.

Enhancing RAG with ABBYY’s document processing capabilities

Integrating RAG with ABBYY’s advanced document processing and data extraction technologies creates a powerful synergy. ABBYY’s technology can transform unstructured data from myriad document formats into structured, AI-ready data. This enriched data becomes part of the external resources RAG models draw upon, further enhancing the accuracy and relevance of AI-generated responses.

Structured data creation

ABBYY’s technology plays an important role in converting physical documents and digital files into structured formats that RAG models can easily access and understand. By ensuring that document data is accurately digitized and annotated, ABBYY sets the stage for RAG to leverage this information effectively.

Real-Time knowledge base update

As businesses continuously generate new documents and data, ABBYY’s technology ensures that this information is promptly processed and made available for RAG models to access. This real-time update mechanism keeps the knowledge base fresh and relevant, empowering LLMs to provide responses that reflect the latest developments and insights.

Seamless integration

The seamless integration of ABBYY’s document processing capabilities with RAG-enabled LLMs opens new possibilities for AI applications. From customer support bots that provide up-to-the-minute information to research assistants that draw upon the latest scientific publications, the combination of RAG and ABBYY technologies echos a new era of intelligent, context-aware AI systems.

Conclusion

RAG is a powerful technique to leverage generative AI systems that are accurate and reliable. By dynamically integrating external knowledge, RAG offers a solution to the persistent challenge of hallucinations in LLMs, paving the way for AI applications that are not only more intelligent but also more trustworthy.

In this new era of AI, the combination of advanced technologies like RAG with the data processing capabilities of companies like ABBYY promises to unlock new levels of intelligence and accuracy in AI applications, heralding a future where AI’s potential is truly boundless.

Maxime Vermeir

Senior Director of AI Strategy

With a decade of experience in product and technology, Maxime Vermeir is an entrepreneurial professional with a passion for creating exceptional customer experiences. As a leader, he has managed global teams of innovation consultants and led large enterprises’ transformation initiatives. Creating insights into new technologies and how they can drive higher customer value is a key point in Maxime’s array of Subject Matter Expertise. He is a trusted advisor and thought leader in his field, guiding market awareness for ABBYY ‘s technologies.

Connect with Max on LinkedIn .

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