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Customization Modes
Phase 3
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Fine-Tuning vs. Prompting vs. RAG
Compare different approaches to customizing LLM behavior
Prompting
RAG
Fine-Tuning
Prompt Engineering
Crafting effective instructions
Easiest
System Prompt
You are a helpful assistant that specializes in summarizing scientific papers.
User Query
Summarize this paper in 3 bullet points: [paper content]
Generate Response
Prompting Approach
Advantages
No additional training required
Quick to implement and iterate
Zero additional cost beyond API usage
Can be adjusted on-the-fly
Limitations
Limited by context window size
May not consistently follow instructions
No persistent learning
Prompt engineering can be an art
Quick Check
Choose the lightest way to tailor behavior first:
Fine‑tuning
RAG
Prompt engineering
RAG is preferred when…
You need to inject fresh/private knowledge
You only need formatting changes
You want fewer tokens
Check Answers
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Farzad Bayat - AI Consulting & Automation Expert | Practical AI Solutions