Instagram could soon use AI to detect users lying about their age

Amid concerns about kids stumbling upon the dark side of the internet through social media apps, Meta is working on a few updates on Instagram, such as creating teen accounts and the new sort and filter DMs feature. Now, the social media platform has taken it a notch higher by identifying young users who lie about their age to watch content that may be unsuitable for them.

To tackle this, Instagram is deploying an AI tool that can determine the real age of users and take appropriate actions based on it. Here is everything you need to know.

How will Instagram's ‘adult classifier’ tool work

Meta is facing legal challenges and criticism from parents and officials who claim that Instagram is contributing to a mental health crisis among teens. In an effort to protect its young users from potentially harmful or inappropriate content by coming up with stricter policies and introducing a gateway to verify users’ real ages.

Instagram will use a new AI-powered tool called the “adult classifier” to ascertain users’ real age more accurately. This tool uses artificial intelligence to analyse users’ online behaviours and other profile information to estimate their age. It factors in who follows the user, what kind of content they interact with, and even comments like birthday posts from friends.

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If the classifier detects that a user is likely under 18, it will automatically switch them to a “teen account.” These accounts will have restricted privacy settings such as limiting who can message the user and filtering the type of content they see.

Instagram asks users to report their age when they sign up through their smartphones. However, some kids often lie to access adult content or avoid parental restrictions. By early next year, the adult classifier will start scanning for users who may have fibbed about their age. All the users who will be found under 18 will be shifted to teen accounts.

The older teens like 16 or 17-year-olds will be able to adjust these settings if they want more flexibility. However, the younger ones will require parental permission to make any changes.