Not the Same Protector: Deployment-Dependent Protective Intervention in LLMs

Abstract:We ask whether a model protects a user in the same way when that user speaks rather than types. Using a single distress vignette---a physical injury of unstated severity following an interpersonal conflict---we present four frontier models with matched inputs across voice, text, and raw API deployment conditions (n=30 per cell) and code each response along five binary protective indicators, including whether the model issues an explicit medical-care directive. Voice-interface responses are markedly shorter than text-interface responses for three of the four models, and protective behavior contracts alongside that compression: medical directives are at ceiling under both the API and text conditions but decline under voice for every model tested. The contraction is not reducible to length. One model produces voice and text responses of comparable length yet still drops medical directives, and another falls below ceiling between its API and voice conditions, whose responses are of nearly identical length. Under raw API access the pattern is categorical rather than partial: no model asks after the user's safety even once. These results show that protective intervention is sensitive to the surface through which a request arrives, that this sensitivity is detectable using a simple protective coding scheme, and that it is not explained by turn length alone.

Cryptography and Security (cs.CR); Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI)

arXiv:2608.29136 [cs.CR]

(or arXiv:2608.29136v1 [cs.CR] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.29136 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.

Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.