Enhancing Conversational Search: Large Language Model-Aided Informative Query Rewriting
Fanghua Ye, Meng Fang, Shenghui Li, Emine Yılmaz · 2023
Query rewriting plays a vital role in enhancing conversational search by transforming contextdependent user queries into standalone forms.Existing approaches primarily leverage humanrewritten queries as labels to train query rewriting models.However, human rewrites may lack sufficient information for optimal retrieval performance.To overcome this limitation, we propose utilizing large language models (LLMs) as query rewriters, enabling the generation of informative query rewrites through well-designed instructions.We define four essential properties for well-formed rewrites and incorporate all of them into the instruction.In addition, we introduce the role of rewrite editors for LLMs when initial query rewrites are available, forming a "rewrite-then-edit" process.Furthermore, we propose distilling the rewriting capabilities of LLMs into smaller models to reduce rewriting latency.Our experimental evaluation on the QReCC dataset demonstrates that informative query rewrites can yield substantially improved retrieval performance compared to human rewrites, especially with sparse retrievers. 1 Instruction to prompt LLM as rewrite editorGiven a question and its context, decontextualize the question by addressing coreference and omission issues.The resulting question should retain its original meaning and be as informative as possible, and should not duplicate any previously asked questions in the context.Q: Who proposed that atoms are the basic units of matter?A: John Dalton proposed that each chemical element is composed of atoms of a single, unique type, and they can combine to form more complex structures called chemical compounds.Question: How did the proposal come about?Rewrite: How did John Dalton's proposal that each chemical element is composed of atoms of a single unique type, and they can combine to form more complex structures called chemical compounds come about?Q: Who proposed that atoms are the basic units of matter?A: John Dalton proposed that each chemical element is composed of atoms of a single, unique type, and they can combine to form more complex structures called chemical compounds.Question: How did the proposal come about?Rewrite: How did John Dalton's proposal come about?Edit: How did John Dalton's proposal that each chemical element is composed of atoms of a single unique type, and they can combine to form more complex structures called chemical compounds come about?Q: What job did Elizabeth Blackwell have?A: A lecturer in midwifery.