On August 13, a bold new form of age verification technology officially launched on YouTube. The platform has started using generative AI to estimate how old its users are; those who are determined to be under 18 will have their accounts automatically restricted.
At the end of July, YouTube announced its plan to bring an AI-powered age line to its platform. It is not the only tech company making that move, as Roblox has also employed AI to figure out which of its users are younger than they are pretending to be.
These types of guardrails can provide safer browsing experiences for kids who lie about their ages in order to access salacious material. Perhaps more importantly, the added layer of protection can help YouTube comply with regulators in D.C. Through the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the government has fined social platforms that fail to comply with established safety standards. With Congress threatening to come down even harder on those platforms, YouTube is taking action.
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That effort is going into effect among a “small subset of users” at first, according to YouTube product exec James Beser. Beser explained that YouTube has already applied machine learning principles to its age verification tech in other countries, and it is now applying those developments in the U.S.
For YouTube, using technology to improve moderation is nothing new. But for as long as tools like ContentID and YouTube Ads Manager have existed, they have been criticized for the number of false positives they generate. Even before the rollout of the new age verification system, VTubers braced for the wave of erroneous restrictions they expect to see.
YouTube is hoping that data points like viewing history and account longevity will inform its age verification decisions with as much accuracy as possible. In cases where errors do occur, users can show government ID, credit card details, or selfies to set the record straight and lift the restrictions from their accounts.
Like with a lot of the active technology on social media platforms, YouTube’s age verification tool will likely go through growing pains as it comes into use. With a slow-but-steady rollout, YouTube can hone its new tech — and hopefully protect under-18 users along the way.
