How I Built ‘University Course Finder’ Using RAG

Full Article

Have you ever wished for a smart assistant that could help you find the perfect university courses? Well, that’s exactly what I set out to create! In this article, I’ll walk you through how I built a ‘Course Finder’ using something called RAG. Don’t worry if you’re not aware — we’ll go over every detail and Build.

What is RAG?
RAG stands for Retrieval Augmented Generation. It’s a fancy way of saying “smart search and answer.” Imagine you have a huge library of books. RAG is like having a super-smart librarian who not only finds the right books for you but also reads them and gives you a summary in everyday language.

Why Use RAG?
You might be thinking, “Why not just use ChatGPT or another AI chat system?” While these are great for many things, they have some problems:

They sometimes make up false information if they don’t know the answer.
Their information can be outdated.
You don’t know where their answers come from.
They don’t know your custom dataset
It’s not private
RAG solves these problems by only using the information you give it. It’s like having a personal assistant who only knows about the things you’ve told them about.

What is this article about?
This article is about how I made a special tool called a University Course Finder. It’s like a smart assistant that helps students find the right university courses. I built it using something called RAG, which stands for Retrieval Augmented Generation. It’s a clever way to search for information and give answers in normal, everyday language.

In this article, I explain how I set up the Course Finder step by step. I talk about the tools I used, like Verba and Weaviate, and why I chose them. I also share why this kind of tool is better than just using a regular AI chat system for finding course information.

Why Read It?
If you’re interested in how AI can help with everyday tasks, this article is for you. It shows how we can use new technology to solve real problems, like helping students choose the right courses. You don’t need to be a tech expert to understand it — I explain everything in simple terms.

Reading this might inspire you to think about other ways AI could help in education or other areas. It’s also a good introduction to RAG technology, which is becoming more important in how we use AI to find and understand information.