YouTube Will Help You Find Videos Featuring Your AI Clone
YouTube is expanding its AI likeness detection tool to everyone over 18 in the coming weeks — meaning it will no longer be limited to select creators and public figures.
YouTube’s likeness detection tool is designed to help people identify AI-generated videos, including deepfakes, that appear to use their faces without permission. It scans YouTube for altered or synthetic content using a person’s likeness and gives eligible users the option to request video removals.
In a blog post published Friday, YouTube announced it would make the likeness detection tool available to all eligible users over 18 in the coming weeks. Previously, access was limited to creators in the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) as part of a pilot program.
“As AI-generated content continues to evolve, we’re committed to creating an environment where you can upload content to YouTube while staying in control of your likeness,” YouTube says in the post. “We recently introduced our likeness detection pilot to creators in the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) and today, we’re excited to announce that we are expanding likeness detection to all eligible creators who are over the age of 18 in the coming weeks!”
The tool allows users to check where their likeness appears in AI-generated content, request the removal of unauthorized videos directly through YouTube Studio, and help prevent audiences from being misled by manipulated content.
The system uses a one-time facial verification process and will be available through YouTube Studio. To enroll, users must upload a government-issued ID and record a short selfie video. Once verification is complete, the platform can detect possible uses of a person’s likeness in AI-generated videos and allow them to request the removal of content that violates YouTube’s privacy rules.
The rollout will take place gradually over the next few weeks and will be available to creators aged 18 and older. According to The Verge, although the update was announced on YouTube’s creator forum, the company’s spokesperson Jack Malon says there are no specific requirements for what qualifies someone as a “creator” for access to the feature.
“With this expansion, we’re making clear that whether creators have been uploading to YouTube for a decade or are just starting, they’ll have access to the same level of protection,” Malon tells the outlet.
The announcement comes weeks after YouTube Shorts introduced a feature that allows users to create AI avatars that look and sound like them for use in videos. The company says the tool allows users to create a digital version of themselves, known as an avatar, that can be added to existing Shorts or used to generate new ones.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
