From Matching to Generation: A Survey on Generative Information Retrieval
Information Retrieval (IR) systems are crucial tools for users to access information, which have long been dominated by traditional methods relying on similarity matching. With the advancement of pre-trained language models, generative information retrieval (GenIR) emerges as a novel paradigm, attracting increasing attention. Based on the form of information provided to users, current research in GenIR can be categorized into two aspects: \textbf{(1) Generative Document Retrieval} (GR) leverages the generative model's parameters for memorizing documents, enabling retrieval by directly generating relevant document identifiers without explicit indexing. \textbf{(2) Reliable Response Generation} employs language models to directly generate information users seek, breaking the limitations of traditional IR in terms of document granularity and relevance matching while offering flexibility, efficiency, and creativity to meet practical needs. This paper aims to systematically review the latest research progress in GenIR. We will summarize the advancements in GR regarding model training and structure, document identifier, incremental learning, etc., as well as progress in reliable response generation in aspects of internal knowledge memorization, external knowledge augmentation, etc. We also review the evaluation, challenges and future developments in GenIR systems. This review aims to offer a comprehensive reference for researchers, encouraging further development in the GenIR field. Github Repository: https://github.com/RUC-NLPIR/GenIR-Survey
Code (1)
Tasks
Incremental LearningInformation RetrievalMemorizationQuestion AnsweringRecommendation SystemsResponse GenerationRetrievalSurveySimilar Papers 제목 키워드 기반
A Survey of Generative Information Retrieval
Generative Retrieval (GR) is an emerging paradigm in information retrieval that leverages generative models to directly map queries to relevant document identifiers (DocIDs) without the need for traditional query process…
Information RetrievalMulti-Task LearningRerankingRetrieval+1A Survey of Generative Search and Recommendation in the Era of Large Language Models
With the information explosion on the Web, search and recommendation are foundational infrastructures to satisfying users' information needs. As the two sides of the same coin, both revolve around the same core research …
A Survey on Knowledge-Oriented Retrieval-Augmented Generation
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) has gained significant attention in recent years for its potential to enhance natural language understanding and generation by combining large-scale retrieval systems with generative …
Information RetrievalNatural Language UnderstandingQuestion AnsweringRAG+3Dense Text Retrieval based on Pretrained Language Models: A Survey
Text retrieval is a long-standing research topic on information seeking, where a system is required to return relevant information resources to user's queries in natural language. From classic retrieval methods to learni…
RetrievalSurveyText RetrievalFlow Matching Meets Biology and Life Science: A Survey
Over the past decade, advances in generative modeling, such as generative adversarial networks, masked autoencoders, and diffusion models, have significantly transformed biological research and discovery, enabling breakt…
Drug Discovery