arXiv:2603.28444cs.AIcs.CL2026-03

让AI在模糊问题中主动选最能消除不确定性的证据。

Entropic Claim Resolution: Uncertainty-Driven Evidence Selection for RAG

  • 用信息熵减少量指导证据选择,而非单纯找相关文档
  • 动态停止条件确保推理达到知识充分性状态(H ≤ ε)
  • 适合需要严谨推理的复杂问答场景

当前检索增强生成(RAG)系统主要依赖语义相似性进行密集检索,但在存在冲突证据或根本性查询模糊的现实场景中,仅靠相关性无法解决认知不确定性。本文提出熵值主张消解(ECR),一种在推理阶段运行的新算法,将RAG推理重构为对竞争性语义答案假设的熵最小化过程。不同于以行动驱动的代理框架(如ReAct)或固定流程的RAG架构,ECR通过最大化期望熵减少量(EER)来逐次选取原子级证据主张,该准则基于信息价值的决策理论。当系统达到数学定义的认知充分性状态(H ≤ ε,满足认知一致性)时,过程自动终止。我们将ECR集成至生产级多策略检索流水线(CSGR++),并分析其理论性质。该框架为不确定性感知的证据选择提供了严谨基础,推动范式从‘找最相关’转向‘找最具区分性’。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Current Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems predominantly rely on relevance-based dense retrieval, sequentially fetching documents to maximize semantic similarity with the query. However, in knowledge-intensive and real-world scenarios characterized by conflicting evidence or fundamental query ambiguity, relevance alone is insufficient for resolving epistemic uncertainty. We introduce Entropic Claim Resolution (ECR), a novel inference-time algorithm that reframes RAG reasoning as entropy minimization over competing semantic answer hypotheses. Unlike action-driven agentic frameworks (e.g., ReAct) or fixed-pipeline RAG architectures, ECR sequentially selects atomic evidence claims by maximizing Expected Entropy Reduction (EER), a decision-theoretic criterion for the value of information. The process dynamically terminates when the system reaches a mathematically defined state of epistemic sufficiency (H <= epsilon, subject to epistemic coherence). We integrate ECR into a production-grade multi-strategy retrieval pipeline (CSGR++) and analyze its theoretical properties. Our framework provides a rigorous foundation for uncertainty-aware evidence selection, shifting the paradigm from retrieving what is most relevant to retrieving what is most discriminative.

RAG不确定性推理优化证据选择

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