Learning-to-Defer for Extractive Question Answering

Yannis Montreuil, Axel Carlier, Lai Xing Ng, Wei Tsang Ooi

Abstract: Large Language Models excel in generative tasks but exhibit inefficiencies in structured text selection, particularly in extractive question answering. This challenge is magnified in resource-constrained environments, where deploying multiple specialized models for different tasks is impractical. We propose a Learning-to-Defer framework that allocates queries to specialized experts, ensuring high-confidence predictions while optimizing computational efficiency. Our approach integrates a principled allocation strategy with theoretical guarantees on optimal deferral that balances performance and cost. Empirical evaluations on SQuADv1, SQuADv2, and TriviaQA demonstrate that our method enhances answer reliability while significantly reducing computational overhead, making it well-suited for scalable and efficient EQA deployment.