Text Obsoleteness Detection using Large Language Models

Maintaining accurate and up-to-date information is a persistent challenge for large-scale knowledge repositories, where outdated content can compromise their value. In this paper, we present a Multitask learning framework that uses Large Language Models (LLMs) for two tasks: semantic update detection and semantic update necessity prediction. The update detection task identifies obsoleteness by comparing older and newer text versions, while the update necessity prediction task determines whether an update is required based on a given context. To support these tasks, we curate a specialized dataset from Wikipedia called SEMUPDATES, focusing on frequently updated articles. Our experiments with five LLMs across four datasets in zero-shot, few-shot, and fine-tuned settings demonstrate that fine-tuning significantly enhances performance. In the multitask learning setup, Qwen delivers the best overall performance, while Mistral achieves the highest accuracy on individual tasks when fine-tuned separately. However, the performance differences across models are not substantial, suggesting that multiple LLMs can be effectively adapted for content update automation. These findings highlight the potential of LLMs in detecting and predicting obsolescence, providing a scalable solution for maintaining the timeliness of digital knowledge repositories.