The Hallucination Problem
We built a support chatbot. It confidently gave wrong answers.
"Hallucinations" they call it.
We fixed it. Here's how.
Why Chatbots Hallucinate
LLMs Are Confident Bullshitters
They generate plausible text. They don't know if it's correct.
For support, this is dangerous.
The Solution: RAG
Retrieval-Augmented Generation
Don't let the LLM make up answers.
Ground it in your actual data.
How It Works
- User asks question
- Find relevant docs
- Put docs in prompt
- LLM answers based on docs
The Implementation
1. Document Your Knowledge
Write support articles. FAQs. Documentation.
This is the ground truth.
2. Chunk and Embed
Break docs into chunks. Create embeddings.
Store in vector database.
3. Retrieval
When user asks, find relevant chunks.
4. Generation
Include chunks in prompt. LLM answers based on retrieved info.
The Safeguards
1. Don't Answer Everything
If no relevant docs, say "I don't know."
Don't make up answers.
2. Show Sources
"This answer is based on [article]."
Users can verify.
3. Human Escalation
"Can't find answer? Talk to support."
Make escalation easy.
The Honest Take
Chatbots can help. They can also harm.
If wrong answers cause problems, be conservative.
Better to say "I don't know" than give wrong answers.
