Meta is ramping up its AI-driven age detection

is platforms and communities reporter with five years of experience covering the companies that shape technology and the people who use their tools. Meta is expanding how it uses AI to detect teens on Instagram — and, in some cases, will begin overriding account settings. Instagram announced it was using AI for age detection in 2024; the system looked for signals that users were under 18 years old, like if messages from friends say “happy 16th birthday,” for example (Meta also says it uses engagement data — people in the same age group often interact with content they see in similar ways). Teen accounts on Instagram are subject to more restrictive settings: by default, teen accounts are private, strangers aren’t able to send them messages, and Instagram limits what kind of content teens see. Last year, Instagram changed the settings for all teens on the platform so that safety features were automatically enabled. Image: Instagram The company now says it will use AI to proactively l ... Read full article.