Core Insights - The article discusses the emergence of Agentic RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) as a key method for large language models to access external knowledge, highlighting the limitations of current reinforcement learning (RL) training methods in achieving stable performance [1][8]. Group 1: Development of RAG Systems - The evolution of RAG systems is categorized into three stages: Classic RAG, Pre-RL-Zero Active RAG, and RL-Zero stage, with each stage introducing new methodologies to enhance retrieval and generation capabilities [7][8]. - The RL-based methods, while promising, face challenges such as misalignment of optimization goals with actual downstream tasks and the coupling of retrieval and generation processes, which complicates performance evaluation [9][12]. Group 2: Limitations of Current RL Methods - Current RL methods like Search-R1 and DeepRetrieval focus on Exact Match (EM) as a reward metric, which can lead to suboptimal training outcomes due to its strictness and insensitivity to semantic variations [9][10]. - The coupling of retrieval and generation in training can obscure the true performance improvements, making it difficult to discern whether gains are due to better search or enhanced language generation [11][12]. - Existing evaluation metrics fail to accurately measure the contribution of search quality to overall performance, leading to bottlenecks in assessment, training, and generalization [14]. Group 3: Introduction of s3 Framework - The s3 framework, proposed by UIUC and Amazon, aims to improve training efficiency and effectiveness by decoupling the search and generation processes, focusing solely on optimizing the searcher with a new reward function called Gain Beyond RAG (GBR) [1][17]. - s3 demonstrates significant efficiency, requiring only 2.4k training samples and achieving superior performance compared to larger baseline models, with a total training time of just 114 minutes [21][22][25]. Group 4: Experimental Results - In general QA tasks, s3 outperformed both Search-R1 and DeepRetrieval across multiple datasets, showcasing its strong generalization capabilities [23][25]. - In medical QA tasks, s3 exhibited remarkable cross-domain performance, indicating its robustness and adaptability to different datasets and contexts [26][27]. Group 5: Design and Optimization Insights - The design of s3 emphasizes the importance of starting retrieval from the original query, which helps maintain focus and improves search outcomes [31]. - The document selection mechanism within s3 significantly reduces token consumption, enhancing efficiency and minimizing noise in the generation process [31][30].