- Meta is working on an AI-powered adult classifier tool will be able to identify users who try to lie about their age.
- Once a user is identified as under 18, they are automatically placed into the teen accounts experience.
- There are no exact dates on when the tool will be live.
Meta has been buckling up to guard the online safety of teenagers on Instagram and Facebook. After introducing teen accounts and even giving Instagram new powers to combat sextortion, Meta has now shifted its focus to eradicating the problem at its very root. Meta is now working on an AI-powered Adult Classifier tool that can stop such people from lying about their age.
Right now, it’s very easy to lie about your age and have a younger or older online persona. Due to this, those under 18 years of age can easily add years and join the less-restricted side of Instagram. Bloomberg reports that Meta is working on utilizing an AI-powered adult classifier tool to identify such users and stop them dead in their tracks.
Additionally, Allison Hartnett, Meta’s director of product management for youth and social impact, said that regardless of how old a user claims to be on his or her social media profile, the user will be placed into the more protective teen accounts experience.
This new step towards further strengthening the privacy and security of teenagers on social media comes from Meta being under fire for allegedly getting such users hooked to social media. In addition, Meta is also being targeted by parents whose children have taken to drugs and passed away due to social media consumption.
Meta’s new AI tool is more well-thought-out than you may think. It will flag teenagers who are creating a new account using the same email address but with a modified birthdate. Moreover, the company will also be able to see the unique device ID that’s carrying out such actions to further pinpoint the users behind it.
Teenagers who try to manually increase their age will need to submit formal identification to get past the restriction. Alternatively, they can send a video selfie to Yoti, a service that can identify age based on facial features. Post verification, both Yoti and Meta will delete the images. Meta also talked about a previous option for teenagers that let their friends vouch for them. But it doesn’t exist anymore, for obvious reasons.
But, what if the AI adult classifier tool wrongfully flags someone? Well, turns out, they “may” be able to appeal and get rid of the teen account status. However, according to a Meta representative, that’s under development right now.
In this very instant, Meta’s primary focus is to improve the accuracy of this classifier. However, there are no more details on that. As a result, such users will need to verify their age before downloading certain apps, and understandably, it’s not good news for Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store.
If you ask me, this should have been the case all along. Given how endless the internet is, there are creeps lurking around every corner. Catfishers can easily target teenagers and younger individuals, making these guardrails essential. It’s alarming how easy it is to create an account on any platform by using the wrong birthdate. So, I’ll welcome this with the widest possible arms. While there are no exact dates on when it arrives, we can hope for it to make it by next year.
What about you? What do you think about Meta’s possible upcoming AI adult classifier tool? Drop your thoughts in the comments down below!
