用小模型模拟大模型的实用判断,提升复杂问题的回答质量。
Distilling a Small Utility-Based Passage Selector to Enhance Retrieval-Augmented Generation
- 将大模型的实用判断能力蒸馏到小模型,实现高效片段选择。
- 在复杂问题上,实用判断比相关性排序显著提升答案准确率。
- 适用于需要动态筛选信息的高成本问答场景,如科研与医疗咨询。
检索增强生成(RAG)通过引入检索信息来提升大语言模型(LLM)的表现。传统检索侧重相关性,而RAG更关注实用性,即片段对生成准确答案的贡献度。尽管实证表明实用性检索有效,但使用LLM进行实用性判断的高计算开销限制了可评估片段数量,这对复杂查询不利。为此,我们提出一种方法,将LLM的实用性判断能力蒸馏到更小、高效的模型中。该方法聚焦于实用性选择而非排序,无需固定阈值即可动态适配特定查询。学生模型通过学习教师模型(如Qwen3-32B)生成伪答案和实用性判断,采用滑动窗口策略动态挑选有用片段。实验显示,实用性选择在降低计算成本的同时显著提升回答质量。我们以Qwen3-32B为教师,蒸馏出RankQwen1.7B和UtilityQwen1.7B模型。结果表明,在复杂问题上,实用性选择优于相关性排序。我们将公开MS MARCO数据集的相关性与实用性标注,支持后续研究。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) enhances large language models (LLMs) by incorporating retrieved information. Standard retrieval process prioritized relevance, focusing on topical alignment between queries and passages. In contrast, in RAG, the emphasis has shifted to utility, which considers the usefulness of passages for generating accurate answers. Despite empirical evidence showing the benefits of utility-based retrieval in RAG, the high computational cost of using LLMs for utility judgments limits the number of passages evaluated. This restriction is problematic for complex queries requiring extensive information. To address this, we propose a method to distill the utility judgment capabilities of LLMs into smaller, more efficient models. Our approach focuses on utility-based selection rather than ranking, enabling dynamic passage selection tailored to specific queries without the need for fixed thresholds. We train student models to learn pseudo-answer generation and utility judgments from teacher LLMs, using a sliding window method that dynamically selects useful passages. Our experiments demonstrate that utility-based selection provides a flexible and cost-effective solution for RAG, significantly reducing computational costs while improving answer quality. We present the distillation results using Qwen3-32B as the teacher model for both relevance ranking and utility-based selection, distilled into RankQwen1.7B and UtilityQwen1.7B. Our findings indicate that for complex questions, utility-based selection is more effective than relevance ranking in enhancing answer generation performance. We will release the relevance ranking and utility-based selection annotations for the MS MARCO dataset, supporting further research in this area.
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