What is Retrieval Augmented Generation?
PICTURE THIS: AN LLM TURN
Simple meaning
RAG searches your documents first, then feeds relevant chunks into the LLM prompt.
WHY — Tokens instead of words?
LLMs use tokens (not full words) because it helps them:
who only read docs from people who shipped.
and tied to GenAI / LLM work.
Each piece maps to a number the network can learn.
Fixed pieces are what transformers expect as input.
STEPS — What happens with tokens?
Before the model can read a sentence, it goes through these steps:
- 1RAG searches your documents
first, then feeds relevant chunks into the LLM prompt.
- 2Answers stay grounded in
company data and cite sources.
- 3It reduces hallucinations for
private knowledge.
- 4Context mix
Attention looks at nearby tokens together.
- 5Next token
The model scores what should come next.
- 6Decode
IDs turn back into readable text.
EXAMPLE — See it in action
Here's a short line you can speak, broken into clear beats:
Note: Adapt this scaffold to your own project — keep it under 60–90 seconds.
Key takeaway
RAG searches your documents first, then feeds relevant chunks into the LLM prompt. Answers stay grounded in company data and cite sources.