Optimizing Large Language Models from a Data SystemsPerspective
Name
chen-peterbc-sm-eecs-2025-thesis.pdf
Description
Thesis PDF
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2.73 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
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0c7d022cf6ae38a58f68514624e575ae
Author(s)
Chen, Peter Baile
Advisor(s)
Cafarella, Michael J.
Date Issued
September 2025
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Strong retrieval and reasoning capabilities are essential for large language models (LLMs) to effectively handle a broad spectrum of downstream tasks, such as open-domain question answering and solving math or science problems. While current LLM-based frameworks achieve strong performance on complex retrieval and reasoning tasks, they do so at a high computational cost. Additionally, they often lack structured, systematic problem-solving strategies, leading to unexpected failures. In particular, these models typically operate in an iterative, online, and isolated fashion—failing to exploit relationships across data sources, opportunities for offline computation, and the benefits of reusability—resulting in less-than-optimal outcomes. In contrast, traditional data management systems are engineered for both efficiency and accuracy, with careful coordination across all stages of the query pipeline. Inspired by these principles, this work proposes novel approaches to improve LLMbased retrieval and reasoning by incorporating optimization techniques from data systems. Our evaluation across a range of knowledge- and reasoning-intensive datasets demonstrates significant gains in both accuracy and computational efficiency.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
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