Retrieval

Definition

Retrieval refers to the technical process of searching and extracting specific information from large datasets or external knowledge bases based on user queries or context. In modern AI systems, it is often paired with generation (RAG) to provide factual grounding. It involves indexing data, computing similarity scores between queries and documents, and ranking results to ensure the most relevant information is returned efficiently to the downstream application.

Summary

The process of fetching relevant data from a database or knowledge base to augment model inputs.

Key Concepts

• Information Retrieval
• Vector Search
• Indexing
• Ranking

Use Cases

• Customer support chatbots
• Document search engines
• Recommendation systems

Code Example

1

null

Related Terms

• rag
• vector_database
• semantic_search
• embedding