Google tests AI methods for age recognition and greater protection of minors

Google will be testing artificial intelligence (AI) methods for recognizing the age of its users over the course of this year. Machine learning will be used to identify minors in order to “offer them age-appropriate experiences” on Google platforms such as the search engine or YouTube. This youth protection measure is initially being tested in the USA, but the technology will subsequently be used in other countries.

Google is thus following the example of the Facebook Group. In November last year, Meta Platforms announced that it would use AI for age verification to identify lying teenagers. This is because there are apparently many accounts of underage Instagram users who cheat on their age. In the future, Meta wants to use AI to detect these and automatically turn them into teen accounts.

Youth protection via AI

Google is also planning this approach. If the AI software recognizes that users are under the age of 18, the settings are automatically changed accordingly. At the same time, users are told how they can confirm their age, for example with a selfie picture, credit card or ID. Google wants to determine the age of users based on existing data. According to The Verge, this includes the browser history, which YouTube videos are watched and how long the Google account has existed.

The safety settings automatically activated in this case for people under the age of 18 include Safe Search, adjusting the search results and videos on YouTube not being played automatically. Some videos are only visible to a limited extent. For example, videos relating to one's own body image, which can be problematic if viewed repeatedly.

Functions for Family Link in the coming weeks

At the same time, Google has announced that some parental control functions presented last summer will be implemented shortly. At that time, Google had expanded Family Link for child safety. From next week, parents will be able to set their children's smartphones and tablets so that they do not receive calls or notifications during school hours in order not to distract them.

From next month, parents will be able to use the Family Link app to add contacts to children's devices and restrict calls and text messages to these numbers so that children cannot be bothered externally. Google also plans to soon allow parents to add payment cards to their children's Google Wallet to get them used to mobile payments. In the coming months, teenagers will have access to Google's NotebookLM, an AI assistant based on its own documents that can summarize texts and explain complex topics, for example.

(fds)