Closed-book AI
Answers from general training patterns and memory.
Stage 0
How AI Uses Your Documents
The difference between a closed-book test and an open-book test. Same student, same question. But one gets reference material and the other relies on what they memorized. That's RAG, giving AI an open book.
vs
Open-book AI
Searches your documents before answering.
Stage 1, Closed Book
Without RAG
Question
Without your documents, AI draws from general training data. It gives you a plausible average, not your specific answer. This is the closed-book test.
Stage 2, Open Book
With RAG
Same Question
Combined context sent to the model
+
This time the model received retrieved document passages with the question. The answer is only as reliable as the passages retrieved.
Stage 3, The Mechanism
The RAG Pipeline
Click once to watch the five-step flow. Each card appears in order so the process is easy to follow.
Five steps: search, retrieve, attach context, generate, and show source tags when the tool supports them. Sources still need verification.
Stage 4, Real World
What RAG Enables
Click each card to see how the same pattern powers tools people already use.
Many AI tools use retrieval before answering. Results depend on document quality, freshness, relevance, and whether the user has permission to access them.