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    "story_id": "mp-2026-09-17-008",
    "source_story_id": "tmp-story-aalt-composition-aware-imitation",
    "edition_id": "mp-2026-09-17-morning-0070",
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    "position": 8,
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    "section": "robotics",
    "editorial_classification": "editorial",
    "headline": "Three Bridge Demonstrations Connected All 72 Tasks",
    "slug": "three-bridge-demonstrations-connected-all-72-tasks",
    "dek": "AALT selected demonstrations for the new routes they enabled, not only the information they contained.",
    "summary": "AALT selected demonstrations for the new routes they enabled, not only the information they contained.",
    "body_text": "Active imitation learning usually asks which demonstration would reveal the most about an expert policy. AALT instead values demonstrations that connect reusable behaviors across many start-goal tasks. In a simulated UR5e ordered-retrieval domain, its latent topology rose from 42 of 72 successful tasks to 72 of 72 after three demonstrations totaling five transitions beyond the initial set. After 20 demonstrations, the strongest baseline averaged 88.6% success with 98 transitions. The evidence is simulation-only, but it isolates compositional reachability as a useful acquisition objective.",
    "why_it_matters": "AALT selected demonstrations for the new routes they enabled, not only the information they contained.",
    "limitations": [
      "The evidence is simulation-only, but it isolates compositional reachability as a useful acquisition objective."
    ],
    "importance": 9,
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    "first_published_at": "2026-09-17T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "modified_at": "2026-09-17T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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        "text": "AALT selected demonstrations for the new routes they enabled, not only the information they contained.",
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        "qualification": "The evidence is simulation-only, but it isolates compositional reachability as a useful acquisition objective."
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    "source_ids": [
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    "tags": [
      "imitation learning",
      "active learning",
      "robot planning"
    ],
    "image_url": "https://themachinepress.com/issues/2026-09-17/aalt-robot-file.webp",
    "corrections": []
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  "sources": [
    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-09-17-008",
      "title": "arXiv preprint 2609.18004",
      "publisher": "arXiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.18004",
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      "published_at": "2026-09-15T21:48:13.000-04:00",
      "accessed_at": "2026-09-17T08:28:34.205-04:00",
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  "corrections": [],
  "publisher": {
    "name": "The Machine Press",
    "url": "https://themachinepress.com",
    "description": "A daily newspaper for the age of artificial intelligence."
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  "cite_this_report": {
    "title": "Three Bridge Demonstrations Connected All 72 Tasks",
    "publisher": "The Machine Press",
    "published_at": "2026-09-17T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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