Google To Begin AI Rollout To Identify Users Under 18

Tech giant Google has announced that it will soon begin using artificial intelligence (AI) to estimate whether a user is under the age of 18.

The AI Age estimation will roll out over the next few weeks in the United States to a “small set of users,” with plans to roll it more widely.

“These measures, which we’ve already implemented in select markets where it’s worked well, are designed to recognize users who are either over or under 18 so that we can provide more age-appropriate experiences for those younger than 18,” said Google in a blog post.

Recently, the company announced that it will begin using AI in YouTube to determine the age of user in the US, starting from August 13.

If Google identifies the user to be under 18, then it will apply age-appropriate protections such as enabling YouTube Digital Wellbeing tools like reminders to take a break and go to bed, limiting repetitive views of some kinds of content, disabling timeline in Maps, disabling personalized advertising, restricting age-sensitive ad categories and preventing users from accessing apps restricted to adults on Google Play.

If a user is incorrectly identified as under 18, Google will allow them to verify their age by uploading a photo of a government ID or a selfie.