Resolving Conflicting Evidence in Automated Fact-Checking: A Study on Retrieval-Augmented LLMs

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ge, Ziyu, Wu, Yuhao, Chin, Daniel Wai Kit, Lee, Roy Ka-Wei, Cao, Rui
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866913855481839616
author Ge, Ziyu
Wu, Yuhao
Chin, Daniel Wai Kit
Lee, Roy Ka-Wei
Cao, Rui
author_facet Ge, Ziyu
Wu, Yuhao
Chin, Daniel Wai Kit
Lee, Roy Ka-Wei
Cao, Rui
contents Large Language Models (LLMs) augmented with retrieval mechanisms have demonstrated significant potential in fact-checking tasks by integrating external knowledge. However, their reliability decreases when confronted with conflicting evidence from sources of varying credibility. This paper presents the first systematic evaluation of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) models for fact-checking in the presence of conflicting evidence. To support this study, we introduce \textbf{CONFACT} (\textbf{Con}flicting Evidence for \textbf{Fact}-Checking) (Dataset available at https://github.com/zoeyyes/CONFACT), a novel dataset comprising questions paired with conflicting information from various sources. Extensive experiments reveal critical vulnerabilities in state-of-the-art RAG methods, particularly in resolving conflicts stemming from differences in media source credibility. To address these challenges, we investigate strategies to integrate media background information into both the retrieval and generation stages. Our results show that effectively incorporating source credibility significantly enhances the ability of RAG models to resolve conflicting evidence and improve fact-checking performance.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_17762
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Resolving Conflicting Evidence in Automated Fact-Checking: A Study on Retrieval-Augmented LLMs
Ge, Ziyu
Wu, Yuhao
Chin, Daniel Wai Kit
Lee, Roy Ka-Wei
Cao, Rui
Computation and Language
Information Retrieval
Large Language Models (LLMs) augmented with retrieval mechanisms have demonstrated significant potential in fact-checking tasks by integrating external knowledge. However, their reliability decreases when confronted with conflicting evidence from sources of varying credibility. This paper presents the first systematic evaluation of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) models for fact-checking in the presence of conflicting evidence. To support this study, we introduce \textbf{CONFACT} (\textbf{Con}flicting Evidence for \textbf{Fact}-Checking) (Dataset available at https://github.com/zoeyyes/CONFACT), a novel dataset comprising questions paired with conflicting information from various sources. Extensive experiments reveal critical vulnerabilities in state-of-the-art RAG methods, particularly in resolving conflicts stemming from differences in media source credibility. To address these challenges, we investigate strategies to integrate media background information into both the retrieval and generation stages. Our results show that effectively incorporating source credibility significantly enhances the ability of RAG models to resolve conflicting evidence and improve fact-checking performance.
title Resolving Conflicting Evidence in Automated Fact-Checking: A Study on Retrieval-Augmented LLMs
topic Computation and Language
Information Retrieval
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.17762