Subj : YouTube set to test AI-po
To : All
From : Mike Powell
Date : Tue Aug 05 2025 09:08 am
YouTube set to test AI-powered age checks in the US will the UK be next?
Date:
Tue, 05 Aug 2025 09:23:39 +0000
Description:
In just seven days, the UK has introduced age checks for online minors,
Australia has blocked YouTube and other social networks, and now YouTube is
rolling out AI age checks in the US.
FULL STORY
YouTube has announced the introduction of AI-based checks to determine the
age of viewers.
This news comes days after a complete ban on YouTube access for under-16s in
Australia, and the introduction of age verification checks in the UK under
the Online Safety Act.
Trialing the technology with a sample audience in the US, YouTube plans to
expand it across the country, tailoring experiences based on the viewers age.
This doesnt just mean blocking unsuitable content. Personalized advertising
will also be disabled for children, while older viewers will be required to
provide government-issued ID to confirm their age if the AI gets it wrong.
YouTubes built-in protections
In a blog post , Director of Product Management for YouTube Youth, James
Beser, wrote that "machine learning age estimation" is being employed to
protect teens on YouTube.
Distinguishing the new measures from previous incentives such as YouTube Kids
and supervised accounts for teens, Beser explained that the platform would
work towards presenting age-appropriate videos.
"Over the next few weeks, well 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," said Beser.
Machine learning will record the searches and video categories, and the AI
will make decisions based on these and other factors, including the age of
the account.
"This technology will allow us to infer a users age and then use that signal,
regardless of the birthday in the account, to deliver our age-appropriate
product experiences and protections," Beser adds.
These protections include disabling personalized advertising when children
are watching, and switching on digital wellbeing tools. (These currently
include break reminders, daily timers, and even a bedtime reminder.) In
addition, recommendations will be safeguarded, with blocks on some repeated
content.
These measures would seem to be VPN-proof, too. There would be no point any
government banning VPNs if the AI-based measures are universal and cannot be
circumvented.
What's next?
Over the years, criticism of YouTubes granular content controls has resulted
in a subscription service (YouTube Kids), supervised accounts, and Google
Family Link integration.
The timing of this announcement, following the decision to include YouTube in
Australias under-16s social media ban, cannot be a coincidence.
After all, it looks like this is not just a US-only endeavor. We are now
bringing it to the US, and as we make progress, well roll it out in other
markets, Beser writes.
Considering recent events, the UK would seem to be high on that list of
markets, followed by key EU nations imposing age verification measures.
======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/youtube-set-to-test-ai-powe
red-age-checks-in-the-us-will-the-uk-be-next
$$
--- SBBSecho 3.28-Linux
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)
