Lesson 4.2
Handling the no-answer case
The hardest behaviour to get is a clean "I don’t know". Make it an explicit, allowed output instead of the model’s last resort.
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Overview
The hardest behaviour to get is a clean "I don’t know". Make it an explicit, allowed output instead of the model’s last resort.
What this lesson covers
- Detect when retrieval returned nothing relevant
- Make abstaining an explicit, acceptable outcome
- Offer a next step instead of a dead end
This lesson sits in Grounded Generation, part of Retrieval-Augmented Generation from Scratch. It assumes what came before it and leads directly into the next lesson in the module.
In this lesson you will:
- Detect when retrieval returned nothing relevant
- Make abstaining an explicit, acceptable outcome
- Offer a next step instead of a dead end
Pro Tip
An empty state that points somewhere useful beats a fabricated answer every single time.