NARA Discovery
Article Details
← Back to Search Results
Journal Article

A hybrid validation framework for LLM-enhanced open data service: the mindat API as a use case

Jiyin Zhang; Weilin Chen; Chenhao Li; Xiaogang Ma
Earth Science Informatics · Vol. 19, Issue 9 · 2026

Abstract

Large Language Models (LLMs) enable natural language interfaces for data retrieval, but their tendency to hallucinate hinders their adoption in scientific applications that require high accuracy. Unlike deterministic traditional APIs (Application Programming Interface), LLMs introduce inherent uncertainty, posing critical challenges for reliable geoscience data access. This paper presents OpenMindatAI, a system that leverages a role-specialized LLM pipeline and a hybrid validation framework to generate reliable API requests for Mindat, one of the largest open databases in geoscience. A consensus voting mechanism is implemented to enhance reliability by generating multiple requests simultaneously and proceeding only upon majority agreement. The hybrid validation framework combines rule-based syntactic validation and LLM-based semantic validation to further ensure structural correctness and logical consistency. The performance of OpenMindatAI is evaluated using a synthetically generated benchmark dataset conforming to the Berkeley Function Call Leaderboard (BFCL) specifications. As a result, OpenMindatAI achieved an F1-score of $$97.08\%$$ , significantly outperforming the $$83.95\%$$ baseline. This work bridges the gap between non-technical users and specialized geoscience data APIs while establishing a foundation for LLM-enhanced data services. Our system serves as a reliable intermediary, enabling external LLM agents to access specialized geoscience data without domain-specific customization, thereby promoting seamless integration of scientific data repositories into the broader LLM ecosystems.

Bibliographic Information

JournalEarth Science Informatics
PublisherSpringer
Publication Date2026-09-01
Publication Year2026
Volume19
Issue9
Document TypeJournal Article
Print ISSN1865-0473
eISSN1865-0481
DOI10.1007/s12145-026-02208-5

Access Information

NARA Access Coverage2008-01-01~Current
Journal Homepagehttps://www.springer.com/journal/12145
Publisher PageOpen Publisher Page
Full-text access depends on NARA's subscribed coverage and institutional access.