YouTube Leverages AI for Age Verification to Enhance Child Safety Online

YouTube will begin using artificial intelligence in the United States to assess the age of viewers as a measure to enhance child protection. This information was shared on the company’s blog.

The platform plans to utilize AI to «interpret various signals,» which include search queries, categories of viewed content, and the age of the user’s account, in order to estimate the user’s age.

If the system determines that a viewer is under the age of 18, YouTube will automatically implement standard protective measures for minors.

«This will occur regardless of the birthdate provided at the time of account creation. We have already been using this approach successfully in other countries and are now gradually rolling it out in the U.S.,» the company states.

The testing phase is set to begin on August 13 and will initially involve a limited number of users.

Tech companies are adapting to new age verification regulations that have been enacted in several states in the U.S. and beyond. These regulations require platforms to verify the ages of users to safeguard children from harmful content, including pornography.

Child rights advocates believe that the responsibility for age verification should fall on tech companies to ensure a safer online environment for minors.

On YouTube, if the system identifies a user as being younger than 18, it will activate protections for teens. These protections include:

If a user is mistakenly flagged as underage, they will have the opportunity to prove their age by providing identification, a bank card, or a selfie.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that in July, YouTube introduced a new AI feature for its Shorts video service, which allows users to transform images into six-second clips.