arXiv AI By Oktie Hassanzadeh, Dharmashankar Subramanian

Same Query, Different Answer: Run-to-Run Variance in Semantic Query Processing

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The paper investigates run‑to‑run variance in semantic query engines that use large language models (LLMs) to evaluate rows. By re‑executing benchmarks (SemBench, LRO‑Bench, UDA‑Bench) and logging 1.2 million model calls, the authors find that between 0.07% and 10.2% of rows change output at temperature 0, with some tasks showing up to 24% change. They show that plan amplification can cause a large fraction of answers to differ, that many benchmark comparisons are unresolved, and that voting and calibrated cascades reduce but do not eliminate variance, leading to new reporting and design guidelines.

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