{
  "$schema": "https://themachinepress.com/schemas/story-v1.schema.json",
  "schema_version": "1.0.0",
  "document_type": "machine_press_story",
  "story": {
    "story_id": "mp-2026-08-31-003",
    "source_story_id": "tmp-story-robot-voice-safety",
    "edition_id": "mp-2026-08-31-morning-0053",
    "edition_url": "https://themachinepress.com/edition/2026-08-31",
    "position": 3,
    "story_type": "dispatch",
    "section": "safety",
    "editorial_classification": "editorial",
    "headline": "A Misheard Command Could Slip Past the Safety Check",
    "slug": "a-misheard-command-could-slip-past-the-safety-check",
    "dek": "Simulated speech-recognition errors weakened refusals and allowed unsafe plans from embodied AI systems.",
    "summary": "Simulated speech-recognition errors weakened refusals and allowed unsafe plans from embodied AI systems.",
    "body_text": "The study combines simulated automatic-speech-recognition errors with SafeAgentBench and POEX to test whether corrupted user input changes embodied-agent behavior. The authors report that some errors preserve enough structure to create harmful ambiguity, while others weaken refusal behavior and permit unsafe plans. Automatic correction reduced risk in some cases but not consistently, so the result identifies an input-channel safety problem rather than a universal correction strategy.",
    "why_it_matters": "Simulated speech-recognition errors weakened refusals and allowed unsafe plans from embodied AI systems.",
    "limitations": [
      "Automatic correction reduced risk in some cases but not consistently, so the result identifies an input-channel safety problem rather than a universal correction strategy."
    ],
    "importance": 9,
    "canonical_url": "https://themachinepress.com/story/mp-2026-08-31-003/a-misheard-command-could-slip-past-the-safety-check",
    "json_url": "https://themachinepress.com/story/mp-2026-08-31-003.json",
    "first_published_at": "2026-08-31T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "modified_at": "2026-08-31T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "content_status": "new",
    "is_carryover": false,
    "carryover_reason": null,
    "key_claims": [
      {
        "claim_id": "claim-mp-2026-08-31-003-001",
        "text": "Simulated speech-recognition errors weakened refusals and allowed unsafe plans from embodied AI systems.",
        "source_ids": [
          "source-2026-08-31-003"
        ],
        "qualification": "Automatic correction reduced risk in some cases but not consistently, so the result identifies an input-channel safety problem rather than a universal correction strategy."
      }
    ],
    "source_ids": [
      "source-2026-08-31-003"
    ],
    "tags": [
      "speech recognition",
      "embodied AI",
      "safety"
    ],
    "image_url": "https://themachinepress.com/issues/2026-08-31/robot-voice-safety-file.webp",
    "corrections": []
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-08-31-003",
      "title": "arXiv preprint 2608.28518",
      "publisher": "arXiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.28518",
      "canonical_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.28518",
      "source_type": "primary_research",
      "is_primary_source": true,
      "published_at": "2026-08-28T12:55:32.000-04:00",
      "accessed_at": "2026-08-31T08:28:26.000-04:00",
      "supports_claim_ids": [
        "claim-mp-2026-08-31-003-001"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "corrections": [],
  "publisher": {
    "name": "The Machine Press",
    "url": "https://themachinepress.com",
    "description": "A daily newspaper for the age of artificial intelligence."
  },
  "cite_this_report": {
    "title": "A Misheard Command Could Slip Past the Safety Check",
    "publisher": "The Machine Press",
    "published_at": "2026-08-31T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "canonical_url": "https://themachinepress.com/story/mp-2026-08-31-003/a-misheard-command-could-slip-past-the-safety-check"
  }
}
