YouTube expands likeness detection to all creators
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YouTube has expanded its likeness detection technology to all creators in the YouTube Partner Program as part of its efforts to address the risks of generative AI.
Why it matters: Creators' businesses are threatened by their likeness being cloned by AI tools without their permission.
- YouTube's vice president of creator products Amjad Hanif tells Axios that the move is part of its job to protect creators.
- "Creators can already request the removal of AI fakes, including face and voice, through our existing privacy process. What this new technology does is scale that protection," Hanif says.
How it works: The tool helps identify and manage AI-generated content that features someone's likeness, namely their face. A creator can opt-in by uploading an image of their face. They then can request to have the identified content removed through YouTube's privacy complaint process.
- The tool will become available to all creators in the YouTube Partner Program over the coming months, the company announced Tuesday at its Made On event in New York.
Flashback: Last December, YouTube partnered with Creative Artists Agency to develop and test the tool. YouTube expanded access in April.
- Pilot testers have included MrBeast, Mark Robert, Doctor Mike and Marques Brownlee.
Between the lines: The tool is similar to YouTube's Content ID system, which identifies copyright-protected content submitted by copyright owners, including visuals and audio.
- That system helps YouTube comply with takedown notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). But likeness is different than copyright and does not currently have a federal framework.
The big picture: Platforms, creators and lawmakers are grappling with how to regulate AI-generated content and protect rights holders.
- YouTube has endorsed a federal bill called the NO FAKES Act where platforms must act quickly when receiving takedown requests for AI-generated likeness.
- "For us, a responsible AI future needs two things: clear legal frameworks like NO FAKES, and the scalable technology — which we're building — to actually enforce those principles on our platform," Hanif tells Axios.
What's next: Hanif says YouTube is looking to expand its detection technology beyond face to other forms of likeness.
- YouTube is also experimenting with ways to give creators new revenue opportunities with AI, not just protections. The company allowed creators to "express their interest in allowing authorized access to their content on YouTube by third-party companies," Hanif says.
- "The positive feedback we received tells us there's clear appetite from creators for these kinds of trusted, authorized partnership opportunities," he added.
