YouTube expands its AI likeness detection digital systems to celebrities

YouTube is expanding its recent “likeness detection” digital systems, which identifies AI-generated content, such as deepfakes, to individuals within the entertainment industry, the corporation declared on Tuesday.

The tech works similarly to YouTube’s existing Content ID system, which detects copyright-protected material in users’ uploaded videos, allowing rights owners to request removal or share in the video’s revenue.

Likeness detection does the same, but for simulated faces. The feature is meant to help protect creators and other public figures from having their identities used without their permission — a common problem for celebrities who find their likenesses have been used in scam advertisements.

The tech was first made available to a subset of YouTube creators in a pilot program last year before expanding more broadly to include politicians, government officials, and journalists this spring.

Now YouTube says the software is being made available to those in the entertainment industry, including talent agencies, management companies, and the celebrities they represent. The firm has support from major agencies like CAA, UTA, WME, and Untitled Management, which offered feedback on the novel tool.

Adopt of the likeness detection tool does not require entertainers to have their own YouTube channels.

Instead, the feature scans for AI-generated content to detect visual matches of an enrolled participant’s face. Users can then choose to request removal of the video for privacy policy violations, submit a copyright removal request, or do nothing. YouTube notes that it won’t remove all content, as it permits parody and satire content under its rules. This also touches on aspects of user interface.

In the future, the software will support audio as well, the corporation says.

Related to this, YouTube has also been advocating for similar protections at a federal level, with its support for the NO FAKES Act in Washington, D.C. This would regulate the employ of AI to create unauthorized re-creations of an individual’s voice and visual likeness.

The enterprise hasn’t yet stated how many removals of AI deepfakes have been managed by the tool so far, but noted in March that the amount of removals was still “very small.”

Topics

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a minor commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

AI Disclosure: This article has been generated and curated using advanced AI technology. While we strive for absolute accuracy, some details may be summarized or translated by autonomous systems. Please cross-reference critical financial data with official sources.