YouTube turns to AI to spot children posing as adults

YouTube has started using artificial intelligence (AI) to figure out when users are children pretending to be adults on the popular video-sharing platform amid pressure to protect minors from sensitive content.

The new safeguard is being rolled out in the United States as Google-owned YouTube and social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok are under scrutiny to shield children from content geared for grown-ups.

A version of AI referred to as machine learning will be used to estimate the age of users based on a variety of factors, including…