This is a research prototype. The data and analyses are preliminary and not yet validated — we'd welcome your .
During a live broadcast of the Artemis II launch, a KBS AI translation system incorrectly translated technical aviation terms into Korean profanity. The offensive subtitles were displayed to viewers, leading to public criticism. KBS issued an apology and implemented enhanced profanity filtering to prevent future occurrences.
During a live broadcast of NASA's Artemis II launch, KBS reportedly used AI-generated real-time translation subtitles that reportedly mistranslated aviation terms including "roger," "roll," and "pitch" into Korean profanity. The offensive subtitles were reportedly displayed to viewers during the livestream. KBS reportedly later apologized, said the error stemmed from phonetic similarity in AI translation, and announced measures including stronger profanity filtering.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
AI that exposes users to harmful, abusive, unsafe or inappropriate content. May involve providing advice or encouraging action. Examples of toxic content include hate speech, violence, extremism, illegal acts, or child sexual abuse material, as well as content that violates community norms such as profanity, inflammatory political speech, or pornography.
Also classified as
The AI system failed to robustly translate specialized technical aviation terms, mistaking them for phonetically similar common words.
The AI system generated and exposed viewers to offensive profanity during a live broadcast, violating community standards and broadcasting norms.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Unintentional
Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed
The incident was caused by an AI translation system making translation errors during a live post-deployment broadcast, which was an unintended outcome of its operation.
An AI translation system used by South Korean broadcaster KBS mistakenly translated technical aviation terms into Korean profanity during a live broadcast of the Artemis II launch. The incident caused minor public embarrassment and viewer backlash but carried no national security implications.
The AI system functioned as a real-time translation tool, performing a specific, well-defined function of converting spoken English audio into Korean text subtitles without autonomous planning or agency.
Minimal or No Risk: The AI translation system is used for media subtitling and entertainment, posing low or negligible risks to users and society under the EU AI Act.
The AI system's primary function was to provide real-time translation and subtitling of the English live broadcast into Korean.
The report clearly details the incident, the specific mistranslations, the public reaction, and the broadcaster's response. There is no conflicting information or significant ambiguity regarding the AI's role.
None
Technology
Phonetic Translation Error
AI translated aerospace terms to profanity due to phonetic similarity.
Lack of AI Profanity Filter
The translation system lacked robust real-time profanity filtering.
Data Inputs
Acoustic Signal Ambiguity
Ambiguous pronunciation of specialized terms led to translation errors.
Lack of Domain-Specific Data
The AI was not sufficiently trained on specialized aerospace terminology.
Human Factors
Overreliance on AI Automation
Broadcaster relied fully on automated AI translation without manual oversight.
Process and Methods
No Real-Time Review Process
No delay or review mechanism was in place to catch live translation errors.
Inadequate Safeguard Testing
The live translation workflow lacked pre-broadcast safety verification.
Management
Inadequate Risk Assessment
Management failed to assess risks of using live automated AI translation.
Poor Partner Coordination
Insufficient coordination with translation vendors on safety filters.
AI system involved
Identified by automated extraction; can differ from the alleged developers above.
