What does RAG stand for in artificial intelligence?

RAG stands for Retrieval Augmented Generation, which is a technique in artificial intelligence that combines retrieval methods with generative models. This approach allows an AI system to pull in relevant external information, improving the quality and coherence of its generated content. By leveraging a retrieval component, RAG enhances a model's ability to produce more accurate and contextually appropriate responses or outputs based on the data it retrieves. This is especially valuable in tasks that require generating informed responses or narratives based on a broad set of data sources, making it a powerful tool in applications ranging from question-answering systems to conversational agents. The integration of retrieval and generation helps overcome limitations of purely generative systems, which may produce outputs that lack grounding in factual information.