Most RAG Problems Are Retrieval Problems
Many Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems falter not due to the language model itself, but due to issues with the retrieval component, especially when dealing with large or messy datasets common in European enterprises. Problems include poor retrieval quality with over 10,000 documents, difficulties processing complex or scanned PDFs, and outdated or conflicting source information leading to inaccurate answers. Additionally, managing document permissions and underestimating the costs of re-embedding data are significant hurdles in production deployments. AI
IMPACT Highlights common pitfalls in RAG implementation, suggesting that focusing on retrieval quality and data preprocessing is crucial for production success.