Meta turns to AI in age enforcement efforts

Meta announced on Tuesday it will be utilizing artificial intelligence to help remove users under 13 from its platforms as the technology giant continues efforts in the kids safety space amid scrutiny in state courts and Congress.

In a blog post, Meta said it is developing advanced AI to “analyze entire profiles for contextual clues” like birthday celebrations or discussions about school grades in posts, bios, comments or captions to determine if a user is likely underage.

Should it determine the account may be used by a minor under 13, the company said the profile will be deactivated and the account holder will be required to go through the system’s age verification process to stop the account from being deleted.

Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, added that they will also integrate visual analysis, giving AI the ability to scan videos or photos for clues about a person’s age that comments, posts, or bios may miss. The company emphasized this is not facial recognition.

“Our AI looks at general themes and visual cues, for example height or bone structure, to estimate some’s general age,” the company wrote. “It does not identify the specific........

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