## The LLM Trap
The industry rush to wrap everything in LLMs has created a fundamental problem: language models generate plausible-sounding text, but they cannot guarantee factual accuracy when extracting structured data from documents.
Why Deterministic Methods First
Rule-based extraction tools like pdfplumber (for text), camelot (for tables), and OCR (for scans) have a critical advantage: they extract exactly what is in the document, nothing more. No hallucination. No creative interpretation.
The 70% Rule
In our production testing across mutual fund and NPS documents, deterministic methods successfully handle over 70% of all extraction tasks. This means 70%+ of processing costs $0, with results that are provably accurate.
When LLMs Add Value
LLMs excel at tasks that require understanding context and resolving ambiguity. Our tiered approach ensures they are only activated when needed — and even then, their outputs are verified against source text.
Cost Comparison
A typical document processed by ClearSight costs under $0.05 on average. Compare this with LLM-only approaches where every document incurs token costs regardless of complexity.