A RAG system is an innovative approach to information retrieval. It utilizes traditional information retrieval approaches like vector similarity search combined with state-of-the-art large language model technology. Combined, these technologies make up a robust system that can access vast amounts of information from a simple prompt.

Motivation

My motivation for this article is my frustration when trying to find an old mail. I typically have some information about the mail, like who the correspondent was or vaguely what the topic of the email was. Still, I must be more specific when doing a direct word search in Gmail, which makes finding the specific mail I am looking for challenging. I would like to have a RAG system that allows me to prompt my emails to search for them. So, if I needed an old email from my university about a subject, I could prompt something like "What technical course did I enroll in during my second year at NTNU?". An equivalent direct word search to this prompt is challenging since I need more specific information in my prompt. Instead, a RAG system could find the mail, given it has all…