INSTRUCTIR: A Novel Machine Learning Benchmark for Evaluating Instruction Following in Information Retrieval

Large Language Models (LLMs) have increasingly been fine-tuned to align with user preferences and instructions across various generative tasks. This alignment is crucial for information retrieval systems to cater to diverse user search intentions and preferences effectively. 

Current retrieval systems often need to improve and adequately reflect user preferences, focusing solely on ambiguous queries and neglecting user-specific needs. The need for benchmarks tailored to evaluate retrieval systems in user-aligned scenarios further hampers the development of instruction-following mechanisms in retrieval tasks.

To tackle these challenges, researchers at KAIST have introduced a groundbreaking benchmark, INSTRUCTIR. This novel benchmark evaluates retrieval models’ ability to follow diverse user-aligned instructions for each query, mirroring real-world search scenarios. What sets INSTRUCTIR apart is its focus on instance-wise instructions, which delve into users’ backgrounds, situations, preferences, and search goals. These instructions are meticulously crafted through a rigorous data creation pipeline, harnessing advanced language models like GPT-4, and verified through human evaluation and machine filtering to ensure dataset quality.

INSTRUCTIR introduces the Robustness score as an evaluation metric, providing a comprehensive perspective on retrievers’ ability to follow instructions robustly. This score quantifies their adaptability to varying user instructions. Over 12 retriever baselines, including both naïve and instruction-tuned retrievers, were evaluated on INSTRUCTIR. Surprisingly, task-style instruction-tuned retrievers consistently underperformed compared to their non-tuned counterparts, a finding not previously observed with existing benchmarks. Leveraging instruction-tuned language models and larger model sizes demonstrated significant performance improvements.

Additionally, INSTRUCTIR’s focus on instance-wise instructions instead of coarse-grained task-specific guidance offers a more nuanced evaluation of retrieval models’ ability to cater to individual user needs. By incorporating diverse user-aligned instructions for each query, INSTRUCTIR mirrors the complexity of real-world search scenarios, where users’ intentions and preferences vary widely. 

The nuanced evaluation provided by INSTRUCTIR ensures that retrieval systems are capable of understanding task-specific instructions and adept at adapting to the intricacies of individual user requirements. Ultimately, INSTRUCTIR is a powerful catalyst, driving advancements in information retrieval systems toward greater user satisfaction and effectiveness in addressing diverse search intents and preferences.

Through INSTRUCTIR, valuable insights are gained into the diverse characteristics of existing retrieval systems, paving the way for developing more sophisticated and instruction-aware information access systems. The benchmark is expected to accelerate progress in this domain by providing a standardized platform for evaluating instruction-following mechanisms in retrieval tasks and fostering the development of more adaptable and user-centric retrieval systems.

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