Video: Build RAG from Scratch

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Retrieval augmented generation (RAG) provides large language models with up to date information and helps them hallucinate less. But how does it all work beneath the covers?


In this live coding session we'll build the components of a RAG system from scratch in JavaScript. (Aside from the LLM, there probably isn't time for that!) By building our own, we'll understand vectorisation, similarity search, and the role of embedding models and vector databases. We'll then plug it all together to see our augmented bot in action.


You'll get a good grounding in the components of successful chatbots and why they work.

This talk has been presented at JSNation US 2024, check out the latest edition of this JavaScript Conference.

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Video summary
Today's Talk explores the concept of Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) and its application in building chatbots. RAG involves giving language models more context by retrieving relevant data. This is achieved by creating vectors for each talk and using cosine similarity to compare them. The talk emphasizes the limitations of word-based vectors and the benefits of using embedding models and vector databases. By replacing word-based models with vector search, content can be sorted and retrieved more efficiently. RAG, along with large language models and AI, has the potential to enhance scalability and unleash new possibilities.

FAQ

Large language models have limitations such as not knowing up-to-date data due to training cutoff dates and not having access to private information.

Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) is a method that provides large language models with additional context from up-to-date or private data to improve their responses.

RAG improves performance by retrieving relevant data to provide context, allowing models to generate responses with information not available at their training cutoff date.

Cosine similarity measures how similar two vectors are, which helps compare the meanings of different texts or queries to improve search relevance.

Tools and technologies for building RAG systems include embedding models, vector databases like AstroDB, and machine learning techniques for natural language processing.

Vector embeddings are lists of numbers that represent the meaning of a body of text, used to capture and compare meaning in natural language processing.

Vector databases enhance RAG systems by efficiently storing and indexing vector embeddings, enabling fast and scalable similarity searches.

Phil Nash is a Developer Relations Engineer at Datastacks, and he is known online as Fonash.

Phil Nash's talk is about building retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) from scratch, particularly in the context of using generative AI models.

Phil Nash
Phil Nash
20 min
21 Nov, 2024

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