YouTube is testing the use of AI to determine a viewer’s age.
Starting Aug. 13, the company will use artificial intelligence to predict how old a logged-in viewer is, and if it determines the person is under the age of 18, then it will turn on controls and restrictions that are already present on the website to prevent minors from watching inappropriate videos, The Associated Press reported.
“Back in February, we shared that we would soon introduce technology that would distinguish between younger viewers and adults to help provide the best and most age appropriate experiences and protections. Over the next few weeks, we’ll begin to roll out machine learning to a small set of users in the US to estimate their age, so that teens are treated as teens and adults as adults," the company said in a statement.
YouTube said it has rolled out the initiative in other markets, “where it is working well.”
The AI programming will ignore the birthday entered in the account and will instead allow YouTube to “infer a user’s age.”
“These signals include the types of videos a user is searching for, the categories of videos they have watched, or the longevity of the account,” YouTube‘s blog explained.
The age-determined features include break reminders, privacy warnings, recommendation restrictions and restrictions on tailored ads, the AP reported.
So what happens if you’re older than 18 but the AI system thinks you’re younger?
The company said that it will be able to be corrected by sharing with YouTube a government-issued ID card or a credit card, YouTube said.
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