FACTS About Building Retrieval Augmented Generation-based Chatbots

Enterprise chatbots, powered by generative AI, are emerging as key applications to enhance employee productivity. Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), Large Language Models (LLMs), and orchestration frameworks like Langchain and Llamaindex are crucial for building these chatbots. However, creating effective enterprise chatbots is challenging and requires meticulous RAG pipeline engineering. This includes fine-tuning embeddings and LLMs, extracting documents from vector databases, rephrasing queries, reranking results, designing prompts, honoring document access controls, providing concise responses, including references, safeguarding personal information, and building orchestration agents. We present a framework for building RAG-based chatbots based on our experience with three NVIDIA chatbots: for IT/HR benefits, financial earnings, and general content. Our contributions are three-fold: introducing the FACTS framework (Freshness, Architectures, Cost, Testing, Security), presenting fifteen RAG pipeline control points, and providing empirical results on accuracy-latency tradeoffs between large and small LLMs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper of its kind that provides a holistic view of the factors as well as solutions for building secure enterprise-grade chatbots."Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, Preprint submission to ACM CIKM 202

Building-integrated photovoltaic/thermal (BIPVT) systems:Applications and challenges

A key medium for energy generation globally is the solar energy. The present work evaluates the challenges of building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPVT) required for various applications from techno-economic and environmental points of view. Many challenges are found for applying solar photovoltaics (PVs) modules combined with building systems: supplying hot and cold water and ventilation for the residential and non-residential building. Moreover, efforts and advances achieved in enhancing the BIPVT thermal and electrical performance are explored. Additionally, the review provides further insight into recognizing the fundamental science of the BIPVT systems, explaining its rapid developments and the thermal performance mechanisms. The BIPVT systems designed for rooftops, windows, and facades are specifically highlighted in the present review. Furthermore, the status of PV modules and BIPVT system, benefits, applications, barriers and challenges, and future prospects are discussed. The BIPVT systems require governmental support and a more economically convenient and efficient tariff to maintain the economic feasibility of the system. The key factors impeding the commercialization of BIPVT systems are the implementation of the feed-in tariff, customers’ perception, national economic support, technical aspects such as the performance, system management, and architectural and material considerations. Finally, this review indicates that further works concerned the BIPVT systems to enhance the technology and advancements are still required