Spotting a Fake with AI

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Social media platforms have age requirements, but savvy children often find ways around them. That’s why Instagram is now testing something new: using artificial intelligence to determine if children are being truthful about their ages on the app.

Meta has been using AI to assess users’ ages for some time, but now the company will proactively look for teen accounts suspected of belonging to someone underage.

If a user is found to be misrepresenting their age, their account will automatically be converted to a teen account, which comes with certain restrictions.

Teen accounts are private by default, and private messages are restricted to people that teens follow or are already connected to. Additionally, “sensitive content,” such as videos of fights or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited.

Teens who use Instagram for more than 60 minutes will receive a notification that “sleep mode” is enabled. This feature turns off IG notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages.

These heightened measures come as social media companies face increased scrutiny over how their platforms impact the mental health and well-being of younger users.

For savvy teens attempting to bypass these safeguards, Meta states that it trains its AI to look for signals, including the type of content viewed and shared, profile information, and when the account was created, to help determine the true age of the account owner.