Justifying Passage Machine Learning for Question and Answer Systems
First Claim
1. A method, in a data processing system comprising a processor and a memory configured to implement a question and answer system (QA), for generating answers to an input question, comprising:
- receiving, in the data processing system, the input question;
generating, by the data processing system, a set of candidate answers for the input question and, for each candidate answer in the set of candidate answers, a corresponding selection of one or more selected evidence portions from a corpus of information providing evidence in support of the candidate answer being a correct answer for the input question;
ranking, by the data processing system, the candidate answers based on an application of a justifying passage model (JPM) to the selected evidence portions for each of the candidate answers in the set of candidate answers, wherein the JPM identifies whether a candidate answer is justified by a selected evidence passage corresponding to the candidate answer; and
outputting, by the data processing system, a candidate answer in the set of candidate answers as the correct answer for the input question based on the ranking of the candidate answers.
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Abstract
Mechanisms are provided for generating an answer to an input question. An input question is received and a set of candidate answers is generated along with, for each candidate answer in the set of candidate answers, a corresponding selection of one or more selected evidence portions from a corpus of information providing evidence in support of the candidate answer being a correct answer for the input question. The candidate answers are ranked based on an application of a justifying passage model (JPM) to the selected evidence portions for each of the candidate answers in the set of candidate answers. The JPM identifies whether a candidate answer is justified by a selected evidence passage corresponding to the candidate answer. A candidate answer is output as the correct answer for the input question based on the ranking of the candidate answers.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method, in a data processing system comprising a processor and a memory configured to implement a question and answer system (QA), for generating answers to an input question, comprising:
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receiving, in the data processing system, the input question; generating, by the data processing system, a set of candidate answers for the input question and, for each candidate answer in the set of candidate answers, a corresponding selection of one or more selected evidence portions from a corpus of information providing evidence in support of the candidate answer being a correct answer for the input question; ranking, by the data processing system, the candidate answers based on an application of a justifying passage model (JPM) to the selected evidence portions for each of the candidate answers in the set of candidate answers, wherein the JPM identifies whether a candidate answer is justified by a selected evidence passage corresponding to the candidate answer; and outputting, by the data processing system, a candidate answer in the set of candidate answers as the correct answer for the input question based on the ranking of the candidate answers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program stored therein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a data processing system implementing a question and answer system (QA), causes the data processing system to:
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receive the input question; generate a set of candidate answers for the input question and, for each candidate answer in the set of candidate answers, a corresponding selection of one or more selected evidence portions from a corpus of information providing evidence in support of the candidate answer being a correct answer for the input question; rank the candidate answers based on an application of a justifying passage model (JPM) to the selected evidence portions for each of the candidate answers in the set of candidate answers, wherein the JPM identifies whether a candidate answer is justified by a selected evidence passage corresponding to the candidate answer; and output a candidate answer in the set of candidate answers as the correct answer for the input question based on the ranking of the candidate answers. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A data processing system configured to implement a question and answer system (QA), comprising:
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a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to; receive the input question; generate a set of candidate answers for the input question and, for each candidate answer in the set of candidate answers, a corresponding selection of one or more selected evidence portions from a corpus of information providing evidence in support of the candidate answer being a correct answer for the input question; rank the candidate answers based on an application of a justifying passage model (JPM) to the selected evidence portions for each of the candidate answers in the set of candidate answers, wherein the JPM identifies whether a candidate answer is justified by a selected evidence passage corresponding to the candidate answer; and output a candidate answer in the set of candidate answers as the correct answer for the input question based on the ranking of the candidate answers.
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21. A method, in a data processing system comprising a processor and a memory configured to implement a question and answer system (QA), for generating answers to an input question, comprising:
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receiving, in the data processing system, the input question; generating, by the data processing system, a set of candidate answers for the input question and, for each candidate answer in the set of candidate answers, a corresponding selection of one or more selected evidence portions from a corpus of information providing evidence in support of the candidate answer being a correct answer for the input question; for each candidate answer in the set of candidate answers; applying a justifying passage model (JPM) to selected evidence portions associated with the candidate answer to generate an evidence score for each selected evidence portion, wherein the JPM identifies whether a candidate answer is justified by a selected evidence passage corresponding to the candidate answer; selecting a subset of the selected evidence portions for use in ranking the candidate answers, based on one or more filter criteria; and ranking the candidate answer relative to other candidate answers in the set of candidate answers based on the selected subset of the ranked evidence portions; and outputting, by the data processing system, a candidate answer in the set of candidate answers as the correct answer for the input question based on the ranking of the candidate answers.
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Specification