Google AI Can Now Guess The Age Of Kids In Order To Monitor Content Access
Is this good or...so bad?
Google announced it will start using artificial intelligence to determine whether users are age-appropriate for its products. The tech giant shared the new technique for determining users’ ages in a blog, focused on “New digital protections for kids, teens and parents.”
The automation will be used across Google products, including YouTube, a spokesperson confirmed to CNBC.
Currently, Google has billions of users across its properties, and users designated as under the age of 18 have restrictions to some Google services.
“This year we’ll begin testing a machine learning-based age estimation model in the U.S.,” wrote Jenn Fitzpatrick, SVP of Google’s “Core” Technology team, in the blog post.
The Core unit is responsible for building the technical foundation behind the company’s flagship products and for protecting users’ online safety.
“This model helps us estimate whether a user is over or under 18 so that we can apply protections to help provide more age-appropriate experiences,” Fitzpatrick wrote.
The company said it would bring its AI-based age estimations to more countries over time. Meta rolled out similar features that use AI to determine if someone may be lying about their age in September 2024.
The age estimation model will use existing data about users — including the sites they visit, what kinds of videos they watch on YouTube, and how long they’ve had an account — to determine their age. When it detects that a user may be under 18, Google will notify them that it has changed some of their settings and will offer information about how users can verify their age with a selfie, credit card, or government ID.
The change likely comes in response to the heightened attention surrounding online child safety in the US. In addition to the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and COPPA 2.0, tech giants are contending with the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA), which aims to prevent kids under 13 from accessing social media. KOSMA proposes having online platforms guess users’ ages, though this form of age verification isn’t always accurate.
While this very well may be a noble pursuit, this kind of AI tech does raise some questions and concerns, even aside from its accuracy. What if Google and Meta (who aren’t exactly unbiased companies these days...) decide to use their AI tools to determine more than the user’s age? Could this pursuit just be a facade for other, more fruitful ventures? A venture where tech companies can target us with ads, products, and content more specific and niche than ever because they have the advanced AI to do it?
