Can Instructed Retrieval Models Really Support Exploration?
arXiv:2601.10936v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Exploratory searches are characterized by under-specified goals and evolving query intents. In such scenarios, retrieval models that can capture user-specified nuances in query intent and adapt results accordingly are desirable — instruction-following retrieval models promise such a capability. In this work, we evaluate instructed retrievers for the prevalent yet under-explored application of aspect-conditional seed-guided exploration using an expert-annotated test collection. We evaluate both recent LLMs fine-tuned for instructed retrieval and general-purpose LLMs prompted […]