YouTube Starts Estimating User Age With AI, Limit Content Access For Users Under 18 Years

YouTube is starting to implement an age estimation system based on artificial intelligence (AI) (photo: dock. pexels)

JAKARTA - YouTube has officially started implementing an estimated age system based on artificial intelligence (AI) for its users in the United States starting August 13. This system will assess whether a user is likely to be under 18 years old, then automatically activates the age protection feature in their account.

This feature was announced for the first time last month and worked by analyzing various factors such as viewing habits, search history on YouTube, and the length of time the account was active. Interestingly, this process applies to all YouTube accounts, regardless of the date of birth entered when registering.

If AI YouTube thinks a user is under 18 years of age, they will receive a notification. Users can appeal by verifying the age using an ID card or passport, selfie, or credit card.

For accounts identified as belonging to teenagers, YouTube will automatically activate the age protection feature, including:

Featuring non-personalized ads

Enable wellbeing digital features such as rest reminders and built-in hours

Featuring privacy reminders when uploading videos or commenting

Reducing video recommendations that are potentially problematic if watched repeatedly

Limiting access to videos with excessive or nudity violent content

The 18-year-old age limit for watching videos with a fixed age limit applies as before.

Although it is aimed at protecting young viewers, this policy has received rejection from some users. They are worried that this system can misasses only based on certain viewing patterns. Some also refused to upload identity documents for privacy reasons.

YouTube insists that the application for identity documents is optional. For those who don't want to verify, they can still use a platform with administratively implemented youth protection. This system also does not apply to viewers who use YouTube without logging in, which is now starting to be considered a loophole to avoid AI checks.