Generating questions using a resource-efficient neural network

Abstract

Technology is described herein for generating questions using a neural network. The technology generates the questions in a three-step process. In the first step, the technology selects, using a first neural network, a subset of textual passages from an identified electronic document. In the second step, the technology generates, using a second neural network, one or more candidate answers for each textual passage selected by the first neural network, to produce a plurality of candidate passage-answer pairs. In the third step, the technology selects, using a third neural network, a subset of the plurality of candidate passage-answer pairs. The technology then generates an output result that includes one or more output questions chosen from the candidate passage-answer pairs produced by the third neural network. The use of the first neural network reduces the processing burden placed on the second and third neural networks. It also reduces latency.