Fine-tune vs RAG
When do you choose RAG over fine-tuning an LLM for a company knowledge assistant?
Answers use simple, clear English.
Audio N/AQuick interview answer
Choose RAG when knowledge changes often, must be cited, or is private/per-tenant. Fine-tune for style, format, tool-calling patterns, or domain language—not as a wiki replacement. Many systems use both: RAG for facts + light fine-tune/prompting for behavior.
Detailed answer
Choose RAG when knowledge changes often, must be cited, or is private/per-tenant. Fine-tune for style, format, tool-calling patterns, or domain language—not as a wiki replacement. Many systems use both: RAG for facts + light fine-tune/prompting for behavior. Start with prompting + RAG; fine-tune only with eval proof.
Real example & use case
HR policy bot: RAG over Confluence; tone instructions in system prompt.
Pros & cons
Pros: fresh grounded answers. Cons: retrieval quality becomes the bottleneck.