Macha
AI Support & Agents

RAG vs Fine-Tuning

定義

RAG vs fine-tuning is the choice between grounding an AI model in external knowledge at query time (retrieval-augmented generation) versus adjusting the model's own weights on your data (fine-tuning) — two different ways to make a general model useful for your specific needs.

別名: fine-tuning vs RAGretrieval vs fine-tuning

How they differ

RAG keeps the model as-is and feeds it relevant information — help articles, docs, past tickets — retrieved at the moment of each query. The model's knowledge stays current because you just update the source content, and it's easy to trace an answer back to its source. Fine-tuning instead retrains the model on your examples so the behavior is baked into its weights; changing what it knows means retraining.

In practice they solve different problems: RAG is best for injecting up-to-date facts and knowledge; fine-tuning is best for shaping style, format, or specialized behavior the base model doesn't do well.

  • RAG: dynamic knowledge, easy to update, source-traceable
  • Fine-tuning: adjusts model behavior, style, and format
  • The two are complementary, not mutually exclusive

Why it matters for support

For customer support, RAG is usually the workhorse: your policies, pricing, and product details change constantly, and you want answers grounded in the current help center — not frozen into a model at training time. Fine-tuning may layer on top to enforce tone or a specific reply format, but it's not how you keep the facts fresh.

よくある質問

Should I use RAG or fine-tuning for a support bot?

Usually RAG for the knowledge, since your content changes often and RAG keeps answers current and traceable. Fine-tuning is optional on top, mainly to shape tone or output format — not to store facts.

Can you use RAG and fine-tuning together?

Yes. They address different things: fine-tuning shapes how the model behaves, and RAG supplies up-to-date knowledge. Many production systems combine both.

アイデアを実装に

Macha は既に運用中のヘルプデスク (Zendesk、Freshdesk、Front、Intercom、Gorgias) の上に載る AI エージェント層です。

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