Terms related to natural language processing · 3.6.14
question answering
a task that works out the most suitable answer to a question put in natural language
What this term settles
A governance lead borrows this meaning whenever question answering appears in a risk assessment or an assurance argument. The borrowing is safe only if the artefact behind it matches the description.
Who it binds
A definition binds nobody on its own. It binds the reader who adopts question answering in a policy, a contract, a data schema or an assurance argument.
What to do in your practice
Add question answering to the vocabulary register and to the onboarding pack. A term that is only in a PDF is not controlled; it is controlled when a new joiner can find it and a reviewer can test it.
Evidence an auditor or regulator asks for
- A controlled vocabulary entry for question answering with the citation 3.6.14, an owner and a review date.An auditor can check that the term is controlled rather than assumed.
- A product description that names the language task and the input and output it handles.Shows question answering in use in the artefact the firm relies on, not only in a glossary.
- An evaluation set with the language, the domain and the scoring rule.The product description mixes the task with the model, so a change of model reads as a change of task.
Common gaps this page catches
- question answering is used in the language task in the product description without a written definition, so two teams can mean different things.
- A supplier uses the same word with a different boundary and nobody has recorded the difference.
What to prepare before the amendment lands
Add the entry to the register, give it an owner and a review date, and test it against one live artefact this week. The test is the evidence; the register row alone is not.
How to test it here
Take one live artefact rather than a template, find the sentence or field where question answering is used, and put this page beside it. Record the answer, the artefact and the date, because that record is the evidence and a glossary entry on its own is only an intention.
What this page does not claim
The page does not reproduce the standard, certify the firm or predict the wording the amendment will use; it states question answering at the claim level "definition" and stops where the public record stops.
Common questions
- What does question answering mean in ISO 22989?
- a task that works out the most suitable answer to a question put in natural language
- What evidence should we keep for 3.6.14?
- A controlled vocabulary entry for question answering with the citation 3.6.14, an owner and a review date. A product description that names the language task and the input and output it handles.
- Is question answering a requirement?
- No: question answering is a definition or clause of a terminology standard, and it becomes binding only when a firm writes it into a policy, a contract or a procedure, or when another standard incorporates it.
Related units
Source. ISO/IEC 22989:2022, Clause 3.6.14, Terms and definitions. Open the ISO public entry. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/en/#iso:std:iso-iec:22989:ed-1:v1:en
ISO catalogue record 88145, the amendment status, stage and dates. Catalogue record 74296, the base standard.
Claim level: definition. The definition is in the public preview. This page states it in our own words and does not reproduce the text.
Last updated: 2026-10-21 · Markdown version · Check your vocabulary