YouTube will now use AI to predict your age ... and require government ID if it thinks you're a kid

Image for article: YouTube will now use AI to predict your age ... and require government ID if it thinks you're a kid

Neo Anderson

Jul 30, 2025

Given that most adults act like children these days, I'm not sure this will work 😂

From YouTube:

We will use Al to interpret a variety of signals that help us to determine whether a user is over or under 18. These signals include the types of videos a user is searching for, the categories of videos they have watched, or the longevity of the account.

When the system identifies a teen user, we'll automatically apply our age-appropriate experiences and protections, including:

  • disabling personalized advertising

  • turning on digital wellbeing tools

  • adding safeguards to recommendations, including limiting repetitive views of some kinds of content

If the system incorrectly estimates a user to be under 18, they will have the option to verify that they are 18 or over, such as using a credit card or a government ID! We will only allow users who have been inferred or verified as over 18 to view age-restricted content that may be inappropriate for younger users.

I'm glad YouTube wants to protect kids ... or at least that they are using protecting kids as an excuse for further invasion of our privacy with advanced monitoring tools (remember that YouTube and Google make their money from curating advertisements to targeted audiences, AKA data harvesting).

But again, when so many American males have the testicular fortitude of a neutered possum and the mental maturity of a toddler ...

How is YouTube going to differentiate the 12-year-old Minecraft and Spongebob enthusiast from the 36-year-old Minecraft and Spongebob enthusiast? 😉

Of course, it could work the other way too ...

(What if you fall in both categories? Asking for a friend.)

Regardless, people have their suspicions that this is just a way to get YouTube to force us to hand over government IDs to be better able to track us.

I think this guy speaks for all of us...


P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇

Keep up with our latest videos — Subscribe to our YouTube channel!