Frequently asked questions and document retrieval using bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) model trained on generated paraphrases

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

• receiving, via a processor, a query;
• retrieving, via the processor, ranked candidates from an index based on the query;
• fine-tuning, via the processor, a generative pretrained transformer trained on question-answer pairs of a concatenated frequently asked question (FAQ) dataset using randomly sampled sequences of the concatenated FAQ dataset;
• automatically generating, via the processor, question paraphrases via the fine-tuned generative pretrained transformer based on input answers from the FAQ dataset;
• filtering, via the processor, the automatically generated question paraphrases to match a same FAQ as their generation questions using the index by running the question paraphrases against the index of the FAQ dataset;
• fine-tuning, via the processor, a Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) query-question (Q-q) model based on the filtered generated question paraphrases to match queries to questions of the FAQ dataset;
• re-ranking, via the processor, the ranked candidates using the fine-tuned BERT Q- q model;
• and
• returning, via the processor, the re-ranked candidates in response to the query.

A computer program product for ranking query candidates, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, wherein the computer-readable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se, the program code executable by a processor to cause the processor to:

• receive a query;
• retrieve ranked candidates from an index based on the query;
• fine-tune a generative pretrained transformer trained on question-answer pairs of a concatenated frequently asked question (FAQ) dataset using randomly sampled sequences of the concatenated FAQ dataset;
• automatically generate question paraphrases for questions in the FAQ dataset via the fine-tuned generative transformer based on input answers from the FAQ dataset;
• filter the automatically generated question paraphrases to match a same FAQ as their generation questions using the index by running the question paraphrases against the index;
• fine-tune a Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) Query-question (Q-q) model based on the filtered generated paraphrases to match queries to questions of the FAQ dataset;
• re-rank the ranked candidates using the fine-tuned BERT Q-q model;
• and
• return the re-ranked candidates in response to the query.