Instagram’s AI Age Detection Will Flag Teen Accounts Pretending to Be Adults

Highlights

• Instagram is testing AI-powered age detection to identify teens falsely claiming to be adults.
• The AI looks at interactions and comments to flag users and allow wrongly classified users to adjust their settings if needed.
• Parents will be notified and given guidance on discussing age honesty with verification steps.

Instagram is stepping up its efforts to protect young users. The Meta-owned platform has announced in a blog post that it’s testing AI-powered age detection tools to identify teens who’ve set their account age as 18 or older. If flagged, these users will be moved to Teen Accounts, which come with extra protections against online risks like harassment and abuse.

Caption – Instagram AI age detection feature. (Image credit – Instagram Blog)

Instagram AI Age Detection

This is part of Instagram’s ongoing Teen Accounts initiative, which first launched in 2024. The company is now going further by proactively using AI to detect teenagers pretending to be adults.

According to Instagram, the new AI tools look for clues like who the user interacts with (teenagers often follow and engage with other teens) and comments such as “happy 14th birthday” on a profile that says the person is 20.

The feature is currently being tested in the US.

Instagram says it has used AI-powered age detection before, mainly to personalise the user experience and show age-appropriate content and ads. But this new use to reclassify suspicious accounts as Teen Accounts is a first.

Instagram admits the tech isn’t perfect and could make mistakes. So, if someone is wrongly identified as a teen and placed in a Teen Account, they’ll have the option to change their settings.

However, this brings up a concern as teens pretending to be older might not want to be restricted by Teen Account settings and could try to reverse the changes. Currently, if a user tries to change their birthdate from under 18 to over 18, they must go through multiple verification steps.

This can include recording a video selfie, uploading a valid ID or even asking other users to confirm their age.

Instagram hasn’t confirmed if these same steps will be required for accounts flagged by the new AI system.

Along with these changes, Instagram is also notifying parents of teens. The app will encourage them to check the age listed on their child’s account and offer tips on how to talk about age honesty on social media. These tips were developed with the help of pediatric psychologists, according to the company.

FAQs

Q1. What is Instagram’s new AI-powered age detection feature?

Answer. Instagram is testing AI tools to identify teenagers falsely claiming to be adults, moving them to Teen Accounts with enhanced protections against online risks.

Q2. How does Instagram’s AI detect accounts misrepresenting their age?

Answer. The AI looks at interactions, comments, and engagement patterns, such as users following other teens or posts saying “happy 14th birthday” on profiles claiming to be 20.

Q3. What happens if someone is mistakenly placed in a Teen Account?

Answer. If wrongly classified, users can adjust their settings, though changing their birthdate to over 18 requires verification steps like video selfies or ID uploads.

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