RAG Isn’t So Easy: Why LLM Apps are Challenging and How Unstructured Can Help

Unstructured's content-aware chunking method enhances the performance of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) applications by producing more coherent and contextually relevant document segments than traditional character-based chunking. This approach improves the quality of LLM outputs by ensuring that chunks have a consistent semantic meaning, which is crucial when dealing with content spread across multiple sections or documents. In a test involving 68 documents, outputs generated using Unstructured's chunking were deemed more relevant than those from standard chunking two-thirds of the time. This method not only results in more precise and detailed responses but also allows for more accurate citations, as demonstrated in a comparison of responses to a query about the Fresno-Merced Future of Food coalition. The Unstructured chunking facilitated a more comprehensive and specific answer, illustrating its effectiveness in producing higher fidelity RAG outputs.