YouTube expands AI safeguards against deepfake content

New Delhi: YouTube is extending its AI-powered likeness detection feature to more creators as concerns around deepfakes and AI-generated impersonation continue to grow. This feature is specially designed to help creators detect videos where their face might have been altered or generated using AI and request removal if the content violates YouTube’s privacy rules.

Previously limited to select creators and public figures, it will now gradually roll out to all eligible creators above the age of 18 in the coming weeks.

This announcement comes as AI-generated videos become easier to create and more widely shared online. Platforms such as YouTube are rapidly facing pressure to offer tools that help users protect their identity and prevent misleading content.

Likeness detection is a feature inside YouTube Studio that scans videos on the platform to identify possible AI-generated or altered versions of creators’ faces. The tool is intended to offer creators more control over how their likeness is used online.

YouTube’s likeness feature refers to AI tools that let creators use a digital AI version of themselves for making Shorts and other content. This feature can also generate videos by using a creator’s face, voice, and appearance without them needing to film every clip manually.

A detection tool available in YouTube Studio uses a one-time facial verification process to identify altered or synthetic uses of a person’s likeness across YouTube. This feature also works inside YouTube Studio and scans uploaded videos for possible AI-generated or altered versions of creators’ faces. If a match is detected, creators can review the flagged content and request removal directly via the platform.

This feature is focused on protecting both creators and audiences, especially as AI-generated impersonation becomes more convincing. Creators might not immediately see detected matches after allowing likeness detection. This might mean that AI-generated or altered videos featuring their face are not being uploaded frequently. The tool will continue running in the background to monitor and help detect unauthorized use of creators’ likeness.